Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says Government has allocated $7 million for the completion of Pan Trinbago's headquarters in Trincity. Construction at the facility had been delayed for years. The Prime Minister made the announcement on Tuesday during her visit to Petrotrin Phase 11 Pan Grove panyard, Woodbrook. She also visited four other panyards, Witco Desperadoes, Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars, CAL Invaders and Sagicor Exodus, where she met with spectators and took pictures with children and supporters.
"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. Reiterating that T&T was the home of the steelpan, the Prime Minister said other nations already were claiming T&T's national instrument, which she said needed to be patented. "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.
Asked whether the $2 million prize money for Panorama winners would apply in the future, the Prime Minister said, given the current state of the Treasury, that may not be feasible next year. "We could not, at this point, guarantee what would happen next year," she said. On another note, the Prime Minister said she chose to turn a deaf ear to calypsoes which painted Government in a negative light. Several ministers came in for a tongue-lashing from calypsonians, including veteran performer Cro Cro, during Saturday's Calypso Fiesta at Skinner Park, San Fernando. She said people were free to sing "what they wish." The Prime Minister said she remained unfazed by the harsh words because she was not a "thin-skinned" person.
-Reporting by Cherisse Moe