00:00Mrs. Ramsey-Moore tells us she's extremely pleased to see the pan symbol
00:05added to the new coat of arms, this after the lower house passed the
00:10amendment bill on Tuesday. Speaking on the TV6 morning edition, the Association
00:15President said she's looking forward to the change. World Steel Pan Day, an
00:22announcement was made by the Prime Minister. You see them three ships? They
00:26have to go to be replaced by that beautiful instrument, that empowering
00:31instrument and I mean to see all that is happening I think it's a historical
00:36moment, a moment of pride, a moment of joy. I can't wait to see that instrument
00:40when I open my passport, my birth certificate, my marriage certificate,
00:43whatever, to see pan in your face. She further stressed the importance of
00:49prioritizing pan beyond just Carnival. She said pan activities can help the
00:55youth. She explained that Pantrinbago is initiating pan yard activities earlier
01:02now than before. From November we are starting panorama, right? We're not going
01:07to be boxed into any Carnival period which is just before Lent. So January,
01:12February, you cram everything and then you have several competing events. So we
01:17are saying from November, so we have our people, so November, December, January,
01:21February, sometime Carnival is in March. So five months we hold thousands of young
01:28people in the pan yard because they are there every night. She notes that from
01:33April to July there are regional pan events to engage the youth, highlighting
01:38August as National Pan Month. Ramzi Moore says pan can be a major earner for this
01:44country but she laments the need for corporate assistance. The Association's
01:51head explained that government already aids with prize money and grants. She said
01:56a player barely makes any money when they participate in competitions. For
02:03example, one player, one year, at the end of all of that can get a $3,000 stipend
02:11from a ban, right? Okay. So you have 90 players multiply that by 3,000. Well I'm
02:16dividing it by 90, 600,000, medium. I'm seeing $6,666. So multiply that by 90.
02:25Multiply that 3,000 by 90. That is how much? 270,000? So you realize out of the 600,000,
02:36270,000 don't go on already. Between the arranger, the drummer and the tuner and
02:45the drill master, that's about 150,000 don't go on already. She explained that other
02:53costs include the t-shirts and uniforms for the band, the banner, the flag and
02:59refreshments, as well as the fireworks. Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
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