Beverly Ramsey-Moore has been re-elected as the president of Pan Trinbago. Ramsey-Moore received 225 votes, defeating challenger Aquil Arrindell, of San City Steel Symphony, who received 55 votes at the organisation’s central executive election at East Mucurapo Secondary School yesterday.
In October 2018, Ramsey-Moore was elected as Pan Trinbago’s first-ever female president.
Terry Bernard, who previously served as trustee, was elected as the organisation’s vice president with 223 votes. Denise Hernandez was voted in as secretary with 229 votes.
Ingrid Weekes received 233 votes to be appointed as assistant secretary.
Elected officers serve for a term of three years.
Responding to the results, the leader of the Western Stars Philharmonic Steel Orchestra Fuad Abu Bakr claimed the process was unfair. He claimed that Ramsey-Moore refused to give the challenging candidates a voters’ list, meaning they did not know who the financial bands were and the associated delegates to campaign with.
“Additionally, she used her office to campaign. Publishing the list of nominated candidates and adding a new category of (number of bands nominated). This gave the impression that she had tremendous support and the result would be a foregone conclusion,” he claimed.
Attempts to get a response to the allegations from the Pan Trinbago president were unsuccessful.
Elections were scheduled for October 2021 but were postponed because of COVID-19.
In November 2021, Pan Trinbago members held a press conference, condemning Ramsey-Moore for failing to call executive elections. Abu Bakr threatened legal action, saying the annual general meeting was supposed to be held in October of that year.
Last month, Ramsey-Moore unveiled a $100 million project for a new headquarters for the steelpan in Port-of-Spain. The Government agreed to give Pan Trinbago the old postal service headquarters at Wrightson Road, in exchange for the piece of land it had started a building on over a decade ago.
In August, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley announced the Government’s intention to replace depictions of Cristopher Columbus’ three ships on the Coat of Arms with the steel pan.