Pan Against Crime Summer programme ends with concert

Over 20 bright, up and coming steel pan players were on Thursday, August 15, rewarded with certificates for participating in the Pan Against Crime summer steel pan training programme.{{more}}

Sounding like well seasoned steel pan players, the teens, who underwent training for four weeks, played several musical pieces for the small gathering at the C.W. Prescod Primary School.

Delivering the feature address, Pan Against Crime representative, Nichola Evans, extended congratulations to programme facilitator Kesslon “Taffa” Wilson and his steelpan group, Elite, for retaining the first position in the school’s division of this year’s junior panorama competition.

“You have done a great work, therefore you must not bow down. You are doing a great job,” she told the participants.

Stating that Petro Caribe is the main funder of steelpans for the programme, Evans disclosed that this year, they obtained $300,000 from Petro Caribe, which she said was spent to purchase steelpans and sticks for various communities throughout the country.

Evans said the National Commission on Crime Prevention, the Ministry of National Security, police youth clubs and the Pan Against Crime committee are working to fight the ills and evil of crime here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

She also urged persons to continue to support the young steelpan players.

“Continue to support our pan players and our pan organisations. In this quest, we are in it together. We must stamp out or prevent crime in our nation. It is a fact that there will be persons who are going make one error wherever, but let us work with those who we have now. Let us work with the youth…,” Evans beseeched.

In his turn at the podium, Wilson thanked the Government and the Pan Against Crime Committee for their steadfast and unwavering interest in the nation’s children and the development of the steelpan.

He said one of the ways in which crime can be combated is to equip young people with a skill, which he said would serve them in more ways than one.

Wilson added that playing pan is one way that young people can use their skills to earn a living.

He added that the participants showcased the traits of the best musicians, which he said include being helpful, respectful, courteous and honest.

Also on hand to deliver brief remarks was Assistant Superintendent of Police Jonathan Nichols who said when the Pan Against Crime programme was born in 2007, he never envisaged that the programme would have made the strides it has over the years.

“I could not have, in my wildest imagination, envisioned hundreds of young people being so captivated by this instrument and the programme,” he said.

Nichols said the programme is not geared to towards fighting crimes that have been committed, nor does it target murderers and drug pushers. The programme he said, targets teenagers, whom he described as the future of the development of the country.

“… When a murder is committed, we have react and find the perpetrators and deal with them and try to rehabilitate them. And if the pan can assist, we are quite willing to have them.”

Nichols however said the Pan Against Crime Programme is willing to start a rehabilitated offenders pan side and keep them from committing more crimes. (KW)