Use pan to help curb crime.This was the call made by Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz on Thursday at the prizegiving ceremony for the NLCB J'Ouvert Morning Bomb Competition and the Northern Region Groovy Soca Steelband Competition.The event was held at the National Carnival Commission's (NCC) VIP lounge at Queen's Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.
In his remarks, Diaz commended members of Pan Trinbago's Northern Region for advancing the pan movement. He said in light of the worsening crime situation, the national instrument should be used as a symbol of peace and unity for misguided young people, specifically those in Laventille.
"The executive of Pan Trinbago feels that too much violence is going down in Laventille and in other areas throughout the country. The image of our country is very very important to the steel pan movement," he said. Diaz urged young people to put down their weapons and encouraged those in authority to "bind together" to end violent crime.
On April 21, he said, members of the pan fraternity and any other willing citizens will hold a march for peace beginning in East PoS."Too many young people are being killed. They must get the message. So we decided to have the walk from Morvant Junction to Port-of-Spain. The steelband movement is coming out now to tell the general public that we want the violence to stop," he said.Diaz said the route of the march was still being finalised.
Also present at Thursday's function was chairman of the Pan Trinbago's Northern Division Gerard Mendez who said steel pan competitions and events were becoming more and more difficult to host owing to the scarcity of funding.Despite this, he said, such events continued to take place successfully thanks to the perseverance and willingness of Pan Trinbago and other generous bodies.
Mendez also outlined some of the division's plan for the rest of the year, including fundraising events and a series of concerts carded to begin in April. The concert series, he said, will include the steelbands that placed in the top three at this year's Panorama. After the speeches, presentations were made to the representatives of various steelbands that took part in the two competitions.