Gobin has been on a lucky streak for the past two years, some might say, with his latest ‘victory’ being driving off in a brand new Suzuki Vitara SUV thanks to the People’s Newspaper’s Bingo competition.

Gobin, a retired Assistant Transport Commissioner from Rousillac who says he buys Newsday Monday to Sunday, said he was quietly confident in winning the Bingo and told his wife, “listen, I am going to win that drive!” He collected the keys to his brand new Suzuki Vitara yesterday at Lifestyle Motors’ Bhagoutie Trace, San Juan showroom. His wife, Rohanie and daughter, Nishi were also present for the ceremony.

The company’s Marketing Manager Savina Ramkissoon and Newsday Project Officer Simone Walters-Rocke presented Gobin with his keys. He told Newsday, “I have been playing Bingo from a very long time. I have been playing Bingo since I was 15-years-old.” “When it came out on the Newsday Bingo it was a no-brainer as the only newspaper I buy is Newsday.

I decided to play the game and on Sundays I would even buy two copies of Newsday to get double the cards,” he revealed with a smile. Gobin said he got the Bingo in the second week of playing the game but that was to be his only Bingo for the entire six week competition.

The competition began on November 13 and came to an end on December 30. It saw thousands of readers sending in entries which culminated with a ‘live’ draw on Synergy TV. Although he played when Newsday first ran the Bingo several years ago, Lady Luck at that time, was not with him. How things have changed. This time around, Gobin’s got the kiss of luck and is now driving nice thanks to the People’s Newspaper.

Initially, Gobin was not aware of being the lucky winner, until, “someone who knows me saw it on TV and she called one of my nephews and told him. So my nephew called me and asked, ‘uncle, you entered something in Newsday?’, I said ‘yes’ and he told me I won.

I screamed out and told my wife that we win a car. (Loud laugh) She asked me if I was going off!” At first, he was sceptical but after checking a dated newspaper, he saw that he was indeed the winner.

“After I confirmed (that I won), I told my wife and you know she still did not believe me,” Gobin said. Another family friend who happened to record the ‘live’ draw on her hand held device, forwarded it to the Gobins. For the sceptics who think you have zero to little chance of winning a car or anything else, Gobin’s philosophy is simple: “if you don’t play, how can you win?” Gobin revealed that he won free WASA water for a year, when he was the 50th person to pay a WASA bill, during the country’s 50th Independence Anniversary.

So if ever you’re in doubt, take that chance, who knows, it just might be you.

Some have regarded the occurrence of five murders as nothing to be concerned about. They are wrong, and that is why we do not apologise for returning to the issue of violent crime, particularly murders, in our country.

No country should sit easy when five murders are recorded in ten hours. We should particularly be concerned with the brazen nature of the killings. A couple was shot while asleep in the privacy of their home. Demons, relatives said, must have been responsible.

Demons in human form. This type of home invasion seems to be running rampant. Motives range from robbery to pure malice.

Meanwhile the presiding officers of both Houses of Parliament have repeatedly declined to clear the way for a debate on crime. It is for those officers to come to that decision and to interpret the rules.

But the possibility of a never-ending tide of violence cannot be far from anyone’s mind. One debate may not be enough, and MPs may well fear opening a Pandora’s box.

But the last thing the population wants now is more talk about crime. We want results.

It would be far more productive if the Government and the Opposition were to come together to hold institutionalised discussions on solutions and to enact them.

A whole-of-government approach is needed, in the sense of crossing departments as well as party lines.

All must come up with a plan of action. The emphasis should be on outcomes, not sabre-rattling. We need well-devised interventions.

For a start there needs to be better regulation of guns and cars, as a recent spate of drive-by shootings demonstrates. Why are weapons so freely available and why have they not been properly tracked? These are some of the issues relating to the execution of crimes.

Other efforts can be devised to frustrate criminals such as the effective use of information once gathered by the State’s security apparatus.

Surveillance alone is not enough.

There is also the question of deterrence.

If the crime cannot be prevented, the punishment should still be effective. This is the other side of the equation. It is currently woefully inadequate. More needs to be done to empower the police to solve crimes and to prosecute them soundly in the court. The court system, too, needs to become fairer to all concerned and more efficient.

The nation is fed up of saying the time has come for action. Indeed, the time for action was long ago.

None of this is to take away from genuine achievements when they do happen: and they do, as recent high-profile arrests demonstrate.

But that is little comfort to the family and friends of people murdered while in their sleep; or on the way to school; or sitting in a car in traffic.

Citizens must play a role. If you see something, say something: report it.

Which is why the police must do a better job of earning trust.

The Police Service is to be commended for swiftly removing one high-profile police officer from the position of co-host of a daily crime programme. His continued presence – on an anti-crime show of all things! – would have sent the wrong signal. The matter is before the court. But lessons must be learned from this incident.

Television is a useful medium in crime-fighting. However, such shows must never serve to inadvertently glamorise crime. Nor must they undermine confidence in the police. We need confidence now more than ever.

In TT we are generally bad at giving constructive criticism, particularly in personal and family relationships, often haranguing the subject of our attention. We are not generous either in how we criticise people in public life or in how we respond to individuals and ideas we are unacquainted with. This results in our poor reaction to, and even lack of trust in, open analysis of our work.

But, in the arts, practitioners depend on the critic to open up their work to the ears and eyes of the public, to appreciate it and encourage us into ways of seeing and hearing. It is quite true that an artist may have a studio full of work but until someone engages with it only part of that artist’s work is done.

There is a dearth of good criticism of the arts and an absolute lack in specific areas of the arts in this country and throughout our region, outside of academia. That is not a healthy state of affairs as it leaves the public cultural space empty. We need to learn how to talk about our arts in a constructive way that grows us, and the artists, each gaining from the exchange of ideas.

I would argue that the criticism of our steel pan is inadequate, and other music when rarely we see it published in the media, similarly with our visual arts, drama and film, all of which we produce in respectable quantities.

Only literature has enjoyed an increased and informed window in recent times, and that is for very specific reasons. Yet, artists need criticism every bit as much as we need two hands to clap, and giving criticism is an art in itself.

At an intensive one-week workshop in literary and visual arts criticism last week, held in Jamaica, the literary editor of the UK Guardian newspaper and the writer and programme director at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami took 11 Caribbean culture writers through the dos and don’ts of good arts criticism, courtesy the Bocas Lit Fest, UWI (Mona) and the British Council.

A lot has been said, both good and bad, about critics: what immediately comes to mind is the writer Victor Hugo describing them as “fungus at the foot of oaks”, and I can’t remember who, remarking that no statue has even been put up by a critic.

For all that, the role of the critic is well developed, with critics sometimes wielding inordinate power, for example over theatre audiences in New York, where unfavourable reviews have shut down plays. I remember Derek Walcott’s 1998 collaboration with the legendary Paul Simon, The Capeman, not lasting more than two months on Broadway after the New York Times’ damning criticism.

Critics have responsibilities when sharing their opinion about a work; and we need to know that the critic does not present “the truth”. We have to learn to develop our own way of critiquing, but having a, hopefully, more knowledgeable and unbiased insight provides us with some basis for and guidance in shaping an opinion, possibly in opposition.

As for the writer or artist, getting feedback may mean learning how to take negative comments on the chin. Most artists find criticism difficult to accept, preferring a pat on the back but not everybody will like the work, even if it is a prize winner. Creators must distance themselves from their work in order to benefit from criticism, and I don’t mean being demonised on Facebook.

Together, we and they must improve our cultural environment, m a k i n g it richer, helping to feed our i n c r e a s – ingly impoverished souls.

While admitting he could not accurately predict the numbers for the third or fourth quarters of fiscal 2016, Tewarie said it was possible there could be an economic decline of between six to nine percent in the third quarter.

Accusing the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) Government of doing nothing to assure the population that it had a plan to address the economic issues facing the country, Tewarie said TT has been “in a position of deep recession since 2016. He claimed that all sectors of the economy are in decline, adding that the PNM was afraid to take any action to correct this situation. Opposition MPs thumped their desks as he said, “We might have made mistakes but we did things.” On expenditure by the Police Service in 2016, Tewarie said the police need to indicate what this has achieved in terms of assuring citizens that they will be protected from criminal elements in the country.

In response, Public Administration and Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie disclosed that the former People’s Partnership government allocated a sum of $4,879,715 to the former communications ministry to undertake a programme called National Conversations which was specifically designed to promote former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Cuffie said he had a June 24, 2014, letter which spoke to this and the use of the State-owned Caribbean New Media Group for this purpose. He told Opposition MPs that soca artiste MX-Prime had written a song about them. Quoting a few lines from that song, Cuffie claimed the Opposition had an attitude of “we still jamming” and being unconcerned about burning national issues facing the country

While stressing that the public health system cannot intervene in such circumstances, he said, “We stand ready to perform the surgeries, safely and effectively.

at no cost to the parents in the public health system.” Later in the sitting, the minister spoke about plans to establish a new district health centre in Chaguanas which was proposed under the former People’s Partnership government but never started.

Among those expected to attend the funeral is Member of Parliament for the area Maxie Cuffie.

Police sources said yesterday they are still reviewing camera footage hoping to get clues that could lead to a breakthrough. Officers from the Police Cyber-Crime Unite are assisting investigators in the probe.

Ramkissoon, a Fourth Form student of the North Eastern College, Sangre Grande reportedly missed her school bus last Friday and is believed to have sought public transportation from a PH (private hire) driver.

When she failed to return home last week Friday, relatives made a report at the San Raphael police station and it was then that they were told a person fitting Ramkissoon’s description had been found in bushes at Balata Trace, Talparo.

Relatives later identified Ramkissoon’s body and an autopsy revealed that she was strangled.

BATT said InfoLink said “this information is not related to its operations and is asking persons to desist from responding to this message.

InfoLink also advises that the website is fraudulent and it’s being used to gather your personal LINX debit card information (phishing) to clone your card and steal your identity.” “Members of the public who have already responded to the request and provided any personal information, are kindly asked to contact their commercial bank immediately,” BATT stated. It also reminded bank customers not to disclose any personal information regarding any financial matter to any illegitimate websites, and to contact their respective banks if information like this surfaces.

Speaking at the weekly police press briefing at Police Administration Building in Port-of- Spain, ASP Pierre said while the Carnival Season is in full sway, the safety of the public and visitors to the country is of paramount importance and he urged people to adhere to safety practices throughout the ‘jam and wine’ season.

“Citizens and foreigners should wear minimal jewelry, travel in groups, do not carry or display large amounts of cash, secure cell phones, wallets and purses, refrain from accepting drinks from strangers or leaving drinks unattended, pre-arrange transport and designate a driver,” ASP Pierre advised.

He continued, “When driving to fetes and other carnival activities ensure that your vehicle is properly well secured.

Where possible used paid car parks, do not overcrowd your vehicle, do not drink and drive.” He encouraged citizens to ensure their premises are well secured when leaving their homes, and t each their children to lock the doors upon entering.

“Be very observant when returning home especially at night, check your surroundings and scan before you enter your premises. Children should not be left unsupervised at home or left in the care of strangers,” he said.

Pierre suggested that parents should not take their under age children to fetes, calypso tents or any other adult shows.

Pierre also noted that the public and visitors should make use of vehicles licence with ‘H’, for which it is for everyone’s safety.

“As it relates there is also the law regarding using your vehicles contrary to licence, and we as the TTPS have the mandate to act upon persons going contrary to that law. In the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act, the law is specific with regards to that, vehicles that are registered for hire should be used for hire, your private vehicle is to be used for your own private use,” he said.

According to reports, officers led by Inspector Powder and Sgt Peters executed a search warrant at the brothel at 10 am on Tuesday and detained the five women.

The Guyanese and Surinamese were handed over to officers of the counter trafficking unit for questioning while the three Trini women were being interviewed at the St Joseph police station up until yesterday.

Police believe that the five were involved in soliciting for the purpose of prostitution and investigations are continuing.

Newsday also understands that the Immigration Department is also involved in the investigation to ascertain when the Guyanese and Surinamese women entered the country and if they did so illegally and/or if they overstayed their time.

Ricardo Jhinoo was found with multiple chop wounds in his Hyundai car in the vicinity of the Santa Rosa racing track and housing development shortly after 8.45 pm on Tuesday.

Reports are that police who were on patrol observed the vehicle parked with its engine running, the air condition on and the man slumped in the driver’s seat.

On closer inspection, Jhinoo was found bleeding from chop wounds to various parts of his body.

He appeared to be unresponsive and a District Medical Officer was called to the scene.

The area was cordoned off and the body was ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre.

Crime Scene investigators took possession of the vehicle and a search was carried out for clues.

Jhinoo’s relatives were later contacted and an autopsy is expected to be carried out.