National Skills EXPO 2010 - 1
National Skills EXPO 2010 - 2
The NTA in 30sec.
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National award recipient professor Copland last night revealed that plans are underway to establish a pan tuners guild to build and preserve the local steelpan industry. Copeland made this disclosure after making history with pan pioneers Anthony Williams and Betram Bertie Lloyd Marshall by becoming the first recipients of the countrys new highest award, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Speaking after the National Awards ceremony at Presidents House in St. Ann's, Copeland said: I am happy for this award. Especially for the project itself which quite frankly needs the support of our pan pioneers. I am really elated". Stating that very few people in the country know about Marshall and Williams work, Copeland said: The work that we are doing is an extension of the legacy that these gentlemen will leave behind. We have been thinking of the idea of putting up a tuners guild. Thats something I have wrote to the Prime Minister and thats something that he is interested in." Recalling that a similar initiative failed in the past, Copeland said a tuners guild was essential now because, we are looking at building and preserving the industry of pan. You can't do that the way we have been moving along right now.
He said while there is a big gap between veterans like Marshall and Williams and younger members of the pan movement, their competitors in the United States and United Kingdom are university graduates. Right now (local) university students are not interest in tuning. They want to do engineering, sciences, come out very quickly to the world of work, make some big bucks, have a family and then retire. If you look five to ten years down the road, we will not have the best tuners in this country, the way it is going right now, he declared. Copeland added that Marshall and Williams will receive honorary doctorates from the University of the West Indies later this year. He said a recent victory by Government over an attempt by a US national to patent the steelpan involved that individual copying work done by Williams.
Extract taken from NEWSDAY Page 5. Monday September 1.