Dear Prime Minister,
It was so good, and pleasant, to watch your Conversation with the public at Exodus panyard, last week. At ease you were. As I know you usually are, and have been, at panyards that you have visited long before you took on the mantle of Prime Minister.
And while for some it is simply an informal space to free up, for many of us it is a sacred place where no man is better than the other.
Bob Marley described one love ultimately as the space where we get together and feel alright. And that's not because of drink sharing.
One Love is the steelband culture. And, I will point you to the last Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 150, which describes worship of the highest order. For many of us it is also where our children get to practise discipline, tolerance and production which become ingrained in their DNA.
Indeed, it is the single largest cultural movement in the Caribbean.
Oh well, there are far more important matters than what I have written in these opening paragraphs, but I wanted to get off on a good footing with you.
There is a serious discontent brewing on the ground, among panmen, and I dare say, you may be taking the fall for something that you have become a part of, unwittingly.
It's your name (consequently, your respect ) that will be taking a nosedive in a community you would not want to be a stranger to, under any circumstances.
So when I saw you at the post cabinet news briefing on Thursday afternoon, basically saying that based on what you gathered from the public domain, you saw nothing wrong with Culture Minister Randall Mitchell collecting an additional TT$70,000 a month in government funds, I was convinced you were passing over the matter because you really wanted to take a break from the pressures around you. And that you would deal with it on your return from vacation in Ireland.
As good men and women hope you would, so as not to set a new ethical precedent, a frontline case of himself to himself.
You will find here the requisite document which explains the history of the Property at 55 Dundonald Street, in Port of Spain, which the State subsidised steelband body is renting as a Headquarters.
It was previously owned by Ophthalmologist Dr Bruno Mitchell, Randall's uncle until it came into his hands.
The official filing is for 'Dere St Limited', stated to be the owner of #55 Dundonald St., Port of Spain which was retrieved last week from the CROS system at the Registrar General's office. The shares of that company were acquired by Dr Bruno Mitchell from Joe and Robert Elias on 14th December 2007.
The filing is 190 pages long, with 'Form 8' at Page 89 ( see photo) showing Randall Seth Mitchell 'Businessman' and Dr Jana Marie Koylass 'Medical Professional', as new Directors, effective 30th October 2020 .The address of both those people was stated on that official form to be #7 Fiona Street, Cocoyea Village in San Fernando.
This is a photo of the shareholders that we retrieved from Facebook, dated October 31st 2015.
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| Randall Mitchell and Jana Marie Koylass. |
With incontrovertible evidence like this, how can you say, given the number of empty buildings begging for rent in Port of Spain, that this just happened to fall into the lap of Pan Trinbago? And that it was not a reckless decision made, flying in the face of all right thinking people?
The the documentary evidence of the transaction, is Pan Trinbago's lease for the property which should be made public, especially given the Ministers' stance that "there is nothing wrong or unusual" , while the Pan Trinbago President cautions "no need to broadcast this".
If the ethical standards do not hold with you, then the economics do not line up; the steel pan body that survives on state funds went from paying TT$15,000 monthly to TT$70,000 monthly.
"State spending on the steelband might be better invested in fortifying the three pillars of the modern panyard, musicianship, community and business development, rewarding and supporting initiatives that advance each of those aspects of the panyard," a Newsday editorial on Feb 11th 2024 stated. I am sure you agree.
When you personally endorsed Beverley Ramsey Moore as the person to take over Pan Trinbago, little did you know that six years down the road, you would be reaping this kind of reward.
We know Randall Mitchell will not survive in another cabinet run by you, if you are elected into office again, having already been discarded by the PNM folks who grumbled to you and did not want his return as MP for San Fernando East. To keep the peace you appointed him as a Senator instead.
Over time, Randall and Beverley became tightly bonded, like two peas in a pod. And it is manifest in this open act of disgrace, which you have defended, moreso because of your perceived value of Beverley.
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| Mrs Ramsey Moore and Mr Mitchell. |
Last year, Dennis Phillip, whom you know from 1970, and with whom you share a mutual respect, described it simply as Beverley having you "by the short and curlies'” as through her you hope to manifest votes in the two crucial parliamentary seats in Tobago for the 2025 elections.
But there is none so blind as he who will not see. Panmen know that you have full confidence in her and therefore see all her actions reflecting on you, many of which you may not know about.
And while you are going through panyards for conversations, on your own terms and conditions and as a recommended good look by some of your image advisers, you are missing the whole point of the undercurrent of discontent.
In fact the panmen- a term used loosely to describe decent, qualified men- are going over your head to get a listening ear of President Christine Kangaloo. Some members of the Big Five are working actively on getting a replacement because they believe Ramsey Moore has your full confidence, so they did not dare to reach out to you. Once again, it does not look good for you.
I am sure you hoped to be on better political footing after six years of giving her the responsibility to manage tens of millions of dollars of State funds for the single largest cultural movement in the country, and I dare say the Caribbean.
But it was a straight case of never-see-come-see. Too much, too soon.
It has reached the stage where Beverley’s father at Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra is in a precarious position seeing his daughter act foolishly, as she behaves like she knows more than the pioneers. Katzenjammers has taken home the giant share of government’s prize money in the past three years. Is that money invested into the Black Rock Community, or stays within the family? It is that same causal approach that emboldened the move to rent a building co-owned by the line Minister. Even when Mitchell warned her she reported to panmen that she did not care.
If that isn't enough, the maestro Dr Len Boogsie Sharpe, one of the men who heralded her turn at the top, is now raving mad at the victim he has become. His name, undeservedly, dragged into the doldrums of TnT music history, with a last place in Panorama 2024.
It's a result of the arrogance of dealing directly with HADCO, sponsors of Phase 2 the band which Sharpe founded, as they court her to get the requisite favours to make themselves the premier steelband manufacturer, in a manner that could make everyone else become a bootleg operation. So given that she has HADCO tied around her fingers, she had no problem in placing Sharpe last.
The obscene manipulation of the Panorama competition and the State Funds over the past three years can be better explained by top notch arrangers who see no redress.The placings determine where the most amount of money goes. You just need to look at the results of the last three years to show exactly where the eagle landed. Just know this is not a conspiracy theory, as they claimed, after I wrote about it for two years in a row.
Your decision to take away acres of land from the panmen, who have a 99-year lease on the property at Trincity would have gone unnoticed, if Mitchell did not get the State windfall.
It is unbelievably sad that you can't see how much it means to them to have a chance to execute their vision, which is what the land was given to them for. Not just for a Headquarters but a sustainable steelpan business model. And, if you are looking for impact and votes, building a centre for Pan Trinbago on the spot will positively affect tens of thousands more than a cricket centre would . Giving them the old Post Office Building in Port of Spain is an insult, really, knowing it was a trade off for acres of prime real estate. See below the proof of the 99 year lease.
We know that multinational firm Shell acquired a multi-million dollar property on Tragarete Road in Port of Spain for the Invaders Steelband and that you followed up by giving the band the deed to the land which has been their panyard for decades .
And that Desperadoes Steel Orchestra also got a TT$15 million panyard. So you have not been stingy, at all.
Nevertheless, there is also, a WhatsApp Voice Note with excerpts of the meeting held on March 17 when Beverley, sitting in a roomful of pan men,b oasted that she was the one who told “Randall” that she saw no problem with renting #55 Dundonald Street, that she “did not care.”
So, who is the boss, Doc? I don't want you to go down in history as the first Prime Minister to lose the trust of panmen.
Even if what Dennis said is true, Beverley is of no value to Tobago in the manner that you require for the two parliamentary seats you need on the sister isle and will not bring in enough votes for the price you are paying. I wish there was a way to convey this in fewer words, and still the full story has not been told.
Respectfully, and Sincerely,
Sharmain Baboolal HBM.
