The politician that she is, Beverley Ramsey Moore is making the job as President of Pan Trinbago seem far more important than it really is.
 |
That's even though she reported to an Extra Ordinary General Meeting on December 5th that “Pan Trinbago is insolvent, way over debt.”
That was backed up by her Treasurer Gerald Mendez: “We have inherited hell,” Mendez stated just over a month after he seemed to be the happiest man alive, pacing the floor when his slate won the elections held on October 28th at the Mucurapo East Secondary School.
And just about ten weeks away from the grandest international steel band festival, it is a clear case of culture shock for the new executive. And it is like they are almost in denial while they try to maintain the shell of the organization that has crumbled.
“Don't look for money outside of the eight million dollars to treat with your debt,” is what Chairman of the National Carnival Commission, Winston Gypsy Peters is reported to have telegraphed to the new Executive when he met with them.
“Don't look for money outside of the eight million dollars to treat with your debt,” is what Chairman of the National Carnival Commission, Winston Gypsy Peters is reported to have telegraphed to the new Executive when he met with them.
But that was not translated to the membership on that Tuesday afternoon. Instead Ramsey Moore (in photo by Clayton R Clarke) decided to jump on the train and ride the cycle of debt declaring that she had taken a loan to repay a loan, and that she was engaging the Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture to lend her money to make up the prize money, admin payables and players’ remittance, a total of TT$ 20 million by her estimation.
Still “proud and elated to be elected by you as the first female president,” Ramsey Moore (seen celebrating in the video) said she “never thought we would be in the wide ocean”.
And then she tried to console the members present “I am not afraid of the challenge. You have good swimmers and divers here in the ocean of debt.
Clearly, they are at sea. It is all in the hands of the National Carnival Commission (NCC) and Treasurer Mendez, in his report, while bringing no new idea to the table declared “we need to mend fences with the government and the NCC.”
“The debt is in the vicinity of TT$60 million because a number of bills and figures that were not presented to the auditors
"It’s not TT$30 million, as they said before, but more like $60 million. We have to reduce expenditure and increase revenue.
Where did the figures come from? No one knows.
Later on in the meeting, Ramsey Moore admitted that she “did not have access to the (audit) report from the Ministry of Community Development and Culture, but "town say it really bad.”
But then she declared to the membership: “the recommendations of that report will guide us”
Clearly by her utterances the President, who is drowning in debt, intends to remain afloat riding on the raft provided by the NCC, as Mendez indicated.
As the meeting wore on, Ramsey Moore who introduced all her executive members, wavered in her views. The meeting, after all, was very subdued. “
“We want to renegotiate the (Memorandum of Agreement),” she eventually said, making the first reference to the document.
"The government must provide an enabling environment,” she added going for good measure as if she was in a position to call any shots in the government.
Indeed, Mrs Ramsey Moore does not have the mandate of the divided steel band fraternity.
None of the persons who contested the elections against her slate, except for Peter Morancie, showed up at the Extra Ordinary meeting.
Still on a high Moore declared “since the elections I have been congratulated everywhere I walk and we need to inspire others to invest in us.”
But she was less than inspirational, town say, when she was introduced to banker Richard Young at the Starlift panyard recently.
'You is the man with the money," she was overheard saying, as Young seemed to have mentally recoiled.
The adulation, however, has prevented Ramsey Moore from reflecting. Indeed no one on the executive saw the need to find a way to bring the forces together, to mend relationships in the steel band community.
On that basis, she has no strength going to the NCC to renegotiate the MOA- and as St James’ Power Stars’ Gregory Lindsay reminded her, speaking from the floor, there is a difference between a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
Everything she had to offer to the membership was coming from the government. That, after all, was the riot act read to her by the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley when they met at The Invaders’ Parang and Pork. There she was admonished and told not to dare oppose the NCC.
Everything she had to offer to the membership was coming from the government. That, after all, was the riot act read to her by the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley when they met at The Invaders’ Parang and Pork. There she was admonished and told not to dare oppose the NCC.
Given the number of financial members - 190- the quorum for last Tuesday’s meeting should have been 110. But 98 bands showed up.
Ninety-two bands that voted in the October 28th elections failed to show.
Another meeting is carded for Dec 11th at the Scherzando Panyard in Curepe.
Continue reading below for a blow by blow of the first Extra Ordinary meeting hosted by President Ramsey-Moore.
Beverley’s borrowings:
“There was $24,000 available for spending when we entered.
 |
| Central Executive. Photo Sharmain Baboolal |
“I have spoken to the Prime Minister and Madame Minister and hope to organize to get a loan from the NCC to get the prize money.
“I borrowed money from the Tobago Region and the Eastern Region,” she declared without specifying the sums of money and what repayment plans there are.
“The staff must be paid by the 15th as well as judges and the people who worked for Panorama," she said.
“Bands that owe PANVESCO, your money will be deducted from the prize money,” she declared, without giving in to a request defer payments until 2019.
“Pan Trinbago owes PANVESCO TT$3 million, bands owe TT$2.2 million
“We need the money to pay off PANVESCO to take another loan.
“We have to make hard decisions. Mrs Ramsey Moore alone cannot sacrifice.
“I am sleeping in a small room without a table,” the politician said.
‘I don’t know what the 2019 allocation is and I cannot make a commitment for 2019," she replied when asked by a member on the floor.
“I have been minding me since I got voted and will make the necessary sacrifices until we are out of the woods.
“We have decided not to pay salaries and bonuses- maybe a stipend to the Central Executive," she reported.
Simpson's short sight.
 |
| Keith Simpson with Denise Hernandez . Photo Sharmain Baboolal. |
Yet he did not identify the assets- including the ill-fated Headquarters in Trincity by giving details that the pan fraternity is hungry for in a transparent manner. Nothing has been clarified.
“I have had to identify the vehicles in the hands of some officers who do not want to hand it back," he stated.
“I have found about TT$200 000 worth of items in CDs, DVDs and T-shirts, watches etc.
“We got a gift shop at the Cruise Ship complex to sell the stuff we found 400 watches, books in a cupboard.
What Simpson did not report to the Membership is that
1. former President Keith Diaz returned a Mercedes Benz
2. Darren Sheppard returned one car to the South Central Regional Office.
3. Advisor to the Former President Melville Bryan has two vehicles to return (up to last Thursday, Dec 6th)
4. A car used by former Secretary Forteau was flooded out in Sangre Grande in the October floods.
These are five of the eleven vehicles on Pan Trinnago's list of assets that were accounted for.
VP gets a Vaps.
For all of three hours that the meeting lasted the only new thing appeared to come from Vice President Carlon Harewood. But it was a recycled old idea.
As he offered the schedule for Panorama 2019 -without knowing what is the allocation and without clearing debts for 2018- Harewood’s big bombshell was a Jourvert fete.
It was intended to be on the morning of Panorama Semi-Finals from 2 AM until 10 AM. Semi finals will start at 1PM
 |
| Carlon Harewood. Photo gov.tt |
But give him the credit. He took TT$ 200 from his own pockets to print out the agenda for Panorama 2019 which was floating around in the meeting.
The VP announced four changes for Panorama 2019.
“1. Single Pan from Preliminaries to Finals will be from January 22 to January 29.
“2. A Jourvert fete- 2 AM to 10AM… the Sunday morning before the semis- up in the air still.
“3. A Pan man cool zone for semi-finals where players can relax and watch and listen to Panorama.
“ 4. Judges- we will pool all judges capable of any category- and then do a random picking through the NLCB.
“And then there is the return of the Zonal final which is also up in the air. We are looking for looking for additional sponsors and are gonna push for it.
"The rules for the competition are not yet fleshed out but the start time for finals at 6pm,” he reported.
Ah-we life raft
John Arnold, HBM Gold, has all the accolades on paper. A combination of event management, music and business.
His biggest foray into event management thus far has been with the Tobago Jazz Festival, which has never pulled in a profit. He is, however, the President of the Copyright Organization of Trinidad and Tobago COTT.
 |
| John Arnold. Photo John Arnold |
He will join Janine Charles Farray a marketing strategist and publicist, Colin Greaves, a marketing and steel band event management consultant and “ the man from Jet Blue” who gave away free tickets to the previous executive.
Toby’s appointment was ratified by the Central Exec after Ramsey Moore declared at the extra ordinary meeting that she has to “create a Liaison unit, the liaison officials are lazy. Pan is a social institution that can be used for social progress,” she said.
They are all on Board for Panorama 2019. That has been decided.
“In 2012, funds were used to pay a consultant for Panorama. The middlemen were creaming off the milk and we don't need a consultant to tell us how to run our show,” Ramsey Moore told the meeting a few days before the decision was taken to pull in Arnold and company.
It is easy to assume that Arnold is on board for voluntary service.
So too, the membership is hoping that Woodbrook Modernaire’s Douglas Williams - a part of the Team Rebuild-who was brought in as Office Admin for Pan Trinbago, will also be of voluntary service.
And there is controversy brewing in the sister isle as Tobago Bucconeers has been grantedthe approval from Pan Trinbago to enter the large category for Panorama 2019, on the suggestion of the arranger who already has a medium band on his hands. Where will they get the players? That is the source of future contention.
And there is controversy brewing in the sister isle as Tobago Bucconeers has been grantedthe approval from Pan Trinbago to enter the large category for Panorama 2019, on the suggestion of the arranger who already has a medium band on his hands. Where will they get the players? That is the source of future contention.
Awai goes away before AWOL
“On November 28th Sandra Awai tendered her resignation to the executive, for private medical reasons .”
“We are down to three females on the executive,” Ramsey Moore said, in reference to Secretary Denise Hernandez, Assistant Secretary Lauren Pierre and herself, after Awai resigned, barely one month into the new term.
It was suspicious and made you wonder why health concerns surfaced a month after she offered herself up to work on the Pan Trinbago Executive with her slate headed by Keiron Valentine.
“The resignation was dated November 22nd and submitted on November 28th,” the President reported to the meeting, saying nothing more.
Who would be the new Public Relations Officer, PRO? No one dared to ask.
Awai easily grew disenchanted with what was happening around her and quit to her benefit. She did not feel part of that crew of females on the central executive as Ramsey Moore made it out to be when she reported to the membership that had voted for her.
The resignation was in the air, even as she worked along with the executive.
Ash into the 21st Century
While everyone else was on the slow boat, Marcus Ash, the Education officer, jettisoned himself into the 21st century.
“The Youth Arm executive was supposed to be ten but is now down to four members,” he reported.
 |
| Ash (left) with defeated candidate Michael Dinchong Photo Sharmain Baboolal. |
“But their affairs were handled by the Central Executive. By March the youth arm should get its own Board, have its autonomy and should be able to conduct training and seminars.
“We are seeking a 21st Century upgrade; Ministry of Education Pan in Schools, Curriculum, and Junior Panorama. By the way, the winners are also owed money.
“I met with the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) steel band Faculty- young persons are interested.
“There are 100 countries with no pan and we need more outreach there- a museum and a library as well,” he said suggesting a steelpan interpretation centre in the interim, again with no idea of how it will be funded.
Denise Diary
Secretary Denise Hernandez is close to the President. She was keeping check on the meetings.
Therefore all of the above- which amounts to little or nothing- was accomplished with hard work, Hernandez reported. "We been in term for one month and attended 30 different meetings.
"We have had four Central Executive meetings and 26 stakeholders meetings for debt owing since 2014. The drum factory where the staff has not been paid for six months.
"We attended 18 different functions," she noted.
