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Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore. - File photoONE day after National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Peter Kanhai was booed at the opening of the John Cupid Carnival Village at the Queen’s Park Savannah on January 11, he came under sharp criticism from Pan Trinbago president Beverly Ramsey-Moore the following night at Skinner Park.
Ramsey-Moore delivered a blistering rebuke of the NCC at the start of the National Panorama 2026 Small Conventional Bands finals on January 12, after a series of mishaps delayed the competition.
The incident was triggered when musical instruments and two moko jumbies accompanying Fusion Steel Orchestra fell while the band was leaving the stage. The mishap was attributed to the stage’s infrastructure, including a smooth surface and a steep incline at the entrance and exit.
As a result, Fusion Steel Orchestra – performing Darren Sheppard’s arrangement of Signal for Lara – was unable to exit the stage promptly after its performance. This caused a delay and prevented Tokyo Steel Orchestra, scheduled to perform second, from taking the stage.
With the delay ongoing, Ramsey-Moore, who was seated under a tent with judges and other VIPs, took the microphone and openly criticised the NCC.
“Fusion completed quite a while and they cannot get off the stage as fast as they should, which is going to take us to two, three o’clock – maybe six o’clock in the morning – because of the board, the NCC board,” she said.
The competition, which began at 7 pm on January 10, eventually ended around 2 am on January 11.
Ramsey-Moore accused the NCC leadership of being disconnected from the steelband movement.
“A new board, a new minister, a new CEO who are not listening to the movement, Pan Trinbago. Everything we have required, they have short-changed us,” she said. “It seems the focus is up at Flava (the new Carnival Culinary Experience) or at John Cupid Carnival Village, because they have even scheduled events at the same time we are celebrating our small pan movement.”
Appealing to the small audience for patience, Ramsey-Moore defended Pan Trinbago, insisting the organisation was not at fault.
“It is not the fault of Pan Trinbago. It is not the fault of our workers,” she said, while calling for volunteers to help remove the band from the stage.
“People are falling. Pans are falling. Just go and help,” she pleaded emotionally.
Vowing to protect the steelband movement, Ramsey-Moore added, “Steelband is a movement. I am tired, but we will fight. We will not give up the struggle. Pan is spirit, and pan will live on.”
Attempts to contact Kanhai for comment were unsuccessful. Culture Minister Michelle Benjamin and parliamentary secretary in the ministry, Dr Narindara Roopnarine, were in attendance earlier in the evening but were not present when Ramsey-Moore made her remarks.
In an interview with Newsday, arranger Darren Sheppard shared his experience and concerns regarding the stage.
“I agree that the stage was too small. Whatever was used to cover the stage – that black covering – was too smooth. There were some grips on it, but it did not make much of a difference,” Sheppard said.
“I passed earlier in the day to check the stage because we were band number one. I recognised the sharp slope and that the coating on the stage was far too smooth. Two of our moko jumbies fell and were injured.”
Sheppard said the incline and surface also made it difficult to manoeuvre the floats used on the largest pan racks.
“It was a challenge getting the floats up on stage, not only because of the incline but because it was smooth. The stage was also not the normal height – it should have been higher. If the stage was bigger, you would still have an incline, but you would have a longer run-up.”
He also raised concerns about sound quality for the opening band.
“Always the band that plays first is the guinea pig in terms of the sound system. A couple of audience members told me they were not hearing the basses clearly,” he said.
In his view, Sheppard said, the first band should be allowed a sound check on the stage before competition begins.
“There is precedent for that,” he added.
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