Pan Trinbago urges Govt

Pan Trinbago President Beverley Ramsey-Moore is urging Government to focus on refurbishing panyards rather than constructing community centres, as panyards guide young people toward positive paths.

“We can pause on the construction of community centres and upgrade panyards as we do the work to prevent our young people from getting involved in idle activities,” she said on International Youth Day, which was observed yesterday.

Speaking at Steelpan on D Promenade: Youth Edition on the Brian Lara Promenade in Port-of-Spain, Ramsey-Moore said that pan band managers and instructors not only welcome young people into the safe and sacred spaces of the panyards to play music, but also do much more behind the scenes across the 300 panyards under the organisation.

“But we do much more than the music; we ensure that they are well trained, we ensure that they are empowered, and we ensure that we prepare them to live meaningful lives in this society,” Ramsey-Moore added.

Ahead of performances from the 10 youth bands from various parts of the country, the president said they will use the steelpans and the bands as vehicles for social transformation.

“Not one of these young people will end up as a social statistic here in Trinidad and Tobago; we ensure that we take them away from a life of crime, we ensure they are prepared not to thrive in poverty, we ensure that they are able to gain proper jobs here in T&T,” she guaranteed.

However, the president expressed delight at the prospect of their headquarters that is soon to be built along Wrightson Road (the Old General Post Office) in Port-of-Spain.

Ramsey-Moore said that those who use these spaces should feel welcome and comfortable.

She added, “No longer will you have to leave the panyard to go to the bush.”

Ramsey-Moore said while we have invested millions in building community centres, which is commendable, the panyards remain the place where our young people and senior citizens spend the entire day.

However, these spaces currently lack proper toilet facilities, something that they plan to address as part of their investment in this goal, she explained. The president said this will help managers and instructors who give freely of their services to train the youths in an enabling environment so that they can become the best version of themselves.