Comments by San Fernando mayor Marlene Coudray about political interference in the cancellation of last weekend's Pan in the City has drawn criticism from Pan Trinbago and former San Fernando West MP Junia Regrello.Elton Bain, chairman of Pan Trinbago South/Central Region, said panmen were politically neutral.
He said he did not know how politics came into this activity, when the steelband body was only trying to get a proper deal for its members.
He said pan players decided to withdraw from the competition because the city offered to pay an appearance fee of $3,000, instead of the $5,000 they requested.
Coudray clarified, yesterday, that the statement was not aimed at the pan body and apologised for any misunderstanding. She said, however, the request was unreasonable, coming two days before the event. She said she refused to be held to ransom.Regrello, CEO of TCL Skiffle Bunch Steel Orchestra, said because he wore the hats of both panman and politician, fingers had been pointing at him.
Regrello and Coudray are old political foes, having contested the San Fernando West seat in the 2007 general election.Regrello said it was in 2003, under mayor Ian Atherly's watch, he was convener when they developed the city celebrations to include pan and the launch of Carnival."That is our template she is using," he claimed, explaining that in the first year, South panmen did not participate because they did not have the money to pay them.
He said, however, that a precedent had been set from 2004 right up to 2009 to pay the panmen for their services.He lashed out at the mayor, accusing her of being disrespectful to the panmen. He said Coudray was able to get money for the Gulf of Paria boat cruise, to transform King's Wharf into a restaurant and for other forms of entertainment, but had no money for the panmen.
Distancing himself from the decision to boycott, Regrello said it was the mayor who was playing politics. He also accused her of deliberately leaving Coffee Street, where his steelband is located, out of the mas.
Regrello said for the past six to seven years, the Carnival launch had taken place at his panyard.This year, however, it returned to Harris Promenade, which he described as a graveyard.
"Before Skiffle Bunch came here, this was the venue that was used by the OWTU, Joe White competition and the City Corporation...Now all of a sudden you want to carry it somewhere else."He said the mayor should acknowledge that she was not a Carnival person and since this was her first time, she made an error. He said she apologised to the panmen and hoped to do better next time.