$7M for Pan trinbago HQ; Carnival prize money not guaranteed for future years

PM Kamla Persad-BIssessar gets a gift of a tenor pan from Len Boogsie Sharpe

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her Government has allocated $7 million for Pan Trinbago to complete its headquarters in Trincity on lands that were given to the organisation by the Panday UNC administration.

Construction at the facility had been delayed for years because of lack of funds.

Persad-Bissessar made the announcement when she visited the Petrotrin Phase 11 Pan Grove panyard on Tuesday night. She and Multicultural Minister Winston "Gypsy" Peters also visited the panyards of Witco Desperadoes, Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars, CAL Invaders and Sagicor Exodus.

Persad-Bissessar was part of the administration that allocated the lands to Pan Trinbago. “In our last administration, I was the minister of Legal Affairs and I had control of the Lands Registry and I was given that blessing to give to Pan Trinbago the lands for the pan headquarters. That was more than ten years ago,” she said.

She also said the pan needs to be patented since other nations are claiming Trinidad and Tobago’s national instrument. 

“The only acoustical instrument invented in the 20th century is what? ...the pan, and as we build the headquarters, let us partner to build the pan factory and put the brand, T&T, on that pan so that wherever it goes, it is the pan of T&T,” she said.

She also said the $2 million prize money for various Carnival competitions this year may not be permanent. She said given the current economic reality, the government may not be able to offer the same amount in future years. “We could not, at this point, guarantee what would happen next year,” she said.

She also said she is not bothered by anti-government calypsoes, noting that people are free to sing “what they wish.”