“Thanks to all Destra/QOB/ Lucy fans and supporters that came out to Vas Lounge for the launch,” she later posted on Instagram.

“Thanks to all the media and all my friends and family who made this event a success also – You guys are amazing! Love always.

“Those who were there also got a taste of my upcoming music and I took lots of photos with my fans as well…” Garcia’s latest releases, “Waistline Killer”, “Closer” and “Run Road” were all well-received, alongside her classic hits such as: “Tremble It”, Whey Yuh Want”, “Max It Up”, “I Dare You” and the all-time favourite, “It’s Carnival”.

However, it was her latest duet with “Farmer Nappy” (who was absent) entitled, “Technically” that had the audience singing along, streaking and wilding out the most __ even though Garcia said she didn’t want to perform it without Nappy present, the masses insisted on hearing it and sang both her parts and those of the missing collaborator.

For almost two hours, Garcia and company worked the stage and interacted warmly with the assembly __ stepping down from the stage often to immerse themselves in the midst of the audience and putting them through various dance moves and motions throughout the set.

“Destra is the Queen of Soca and the Queen of Bacchanal,” Alibocas said afterward. “It’s an honour for us to work with her and to share in her energy and her fan-base and her timeless voice. We’re extending our marketing and promotional skills to her brand this year and thus far, we are seeing great results as she continues to solidify her position in the market. Our team wrote two of the four songs she has out right now and we have helped her to market and promote all of her music and also her brand as we prepare for a strong 2017 Carnival season and beyond.” This coming week, Garcia will release her 2017 Power Soca offering, which has been titled, “Destra vs Lucy” and promises to be yet another exciting musical contribution.

Fans who missed the “Destra at Vas” experience can look forward to seeing her live onstage with her Bakanal band at the annual “Army Fete” on February 17 and of course at “Bakanal Wednesday” scheduled for February 22 at a venue to be announced.

OWTU President General Ancel Roget said that yesterday’s meeting did not get to the “cut and thrust” of the issues because of the absence of the President of the State oil company Petrotrin Fitzroy Harewood. Roget said that the Minister summoned Harewood to appear at which time the discussions will continue. He said there were very cordial exchanges and the union continues to hold out hope (that a strike will be averted) but it will examine all possibilities as they are presented today.

“We are very hopeful that at some point not too long from now, these matters ought to be resolved. But we continue to insist that we need to treat the workers who provide this invaluable service to the nation with some level of respect,” Roget said. He added that what is necessary at this stage is dialogue from those who claim to have the authority to hold discussions with the union.

“It is wrong to tell those who are discussing with us that you don’t have the authority but then not discuss with us. So a line has been opened through the Minister of Labour for those discussions and we expect that response to our request for dialogue to take place and therefore get into many different permutations at the end of the day should bring about a resolution, but you can’t have no talks and silence which was what was causing the aggravation earlier on.” Despite this, Roget said the union was very hopeful given the fact that lines had been opened and there were going to be discussions “and with our extending that invitation to dialogue that the government will respond in a responsible manner and that will be met with a responsible response coming from the union.” On Wednesday, the union served strike notice to Petrotrin after salary negotiations broke down.

In a send-off, befitting Yankarran’s status as a Chutney icon, the entire funeral event was a production with loud music blaring, Chutney songs being sung as well as bhajans (religious-themed Hindi songs) and classical Bollywood filmi songs were also played. Current Chutney and Chutney Soca stars and those of yesteryear were in attendance along with Yankarran’s family and close circle of friends.

Top performers including Drupatie Ramgoonai, Heeralal Rampartap, Rakesh Yankarran, Dubraj Persad and Asha Kamachee rendered bhajans and classical songs. Drones outfitted with cameras hovered overhead to capture an aerial view of proceedings.

In a speech which moved many to tears, Deepa Yankarran (Anand’s only daughter), said many people called her father the King of Chutney but she had the privilege of calling him dad. She recalled a phone conversation with him on his 31st birthday.

“I was 11 years at the time and he asked me to put on the radio and call the radio station and tell them you are Deepa Yankarran and you want to wish your Daddy ‘Happy Birthday.” When she did that she recalled how people started calling the radio station complimenting her father. She said her father was very funny and gave an example of his quirky sense of humour.

“One time, he had us cracking up, during the time US President Barack Obama made his first visit to Trinidad saying, ‘Barack visited here before yuh know…and in honour of that people named Barrackpore after him’.” Many in the crowd burst out laughing.

Yankarran’s grieving widow Vidia took on the unsual role of assisting in carrying her husband’s coffin, as the tradition in Hindu funerals is that only male relatives of a deceased carry that person’s coffin. She also followed the hearse to the cremation site, circled the pyre and later set it on fire to commence the cremation of her husband’s earthly remains.

Explaining her actions, Mrs Yankarran said, “I was devoted to him so much so, that it was his wish as told to me, that I perform the last rites.” Yankarran’s sister Surekha said the family went along with Anand’s wishes.

“It is tradition yes, but there have been instances where there were no male relatives present and females were asked to perform the last rites,” Surekha said.

Cross-over artiste Samraj ‘Rikki Jai’ Jaimungal delivered the eulogy saying Isaac Yankarran (Anand’s father) was a musical genius who gave the world a unique style of music and songs.

He recalled that Anand started singing from childhood days and at 19, won the Indian Cultural Pageant competition. “Since then it was no turning back for this singer/composer/musician,” Jai said, adding that at age 24, Yamkarran won the pageant again and starred in a Stag Beer television advertisement, the first local advertisement featuring Chutney music. The song in the ad was ‘Zindabad Trinbago.’ Yankarran migrated to the United States in 2000 and returned hom 14 years later. His last Chutney release was ‘Pak Pak’ in 2013 which was a collaboration with Jai. Yankarran was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) for long and meritorious service to Trinidad and Tobago in 1991.

Yankarran died on Monday last.

Addressing members at a specially- convened statutory meeting at the Corporation’s head office, corner Eastern Main Road and Ramdass Street, Rondon insisted that accountability and transparency must be exercised at all times during the threeyear term. “The council must be run like a business. If there is something that has been given to you, make sure you have your bills in the right and proper manner,” he said, adding “All you have is your name.” Saying that the Corporation will not be run as “a give-away ship,” Rondon told members: “We are going to start the Corporation on the right and proper footing and I want all hands on deck.” Rondon said councillors and aldermen also must answer their cellphones in response to distress calls from residents and queries from the media.

“The cellphone is not to play games,” he said, stressing that representation was serious business.

The chairman referred to his recent experience in the northcoast region in which heavy rains and landslides affected scores of families in Matelot and surrounding communities.

Rondon told the Council he had spent five consecutive days in the area trying to assist the people. “It is nice being with the people and helping them.

Politicians should be the model where people are concerned,” he said.

Rondon also urged members to avoid bad-mouthing their colleagues in bars and other public spaces.

Rather, he said attempts must be made to develop a family-like atmosphere at the Corporation.

Rondon also told councillors they must avoid promising residents jobs, given the country’s precarious economic climate.

“However, I assure you there would be fairness,” he said.

Rondon also announced that a forum to allow members of the public gallery to air their concerns will soon be a feature of the Corporation’s statutory meetings.

Minister of Labour, Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, will again today host conciliation talks following her attempt yesterday at which only the OWTU turned up. While the union has served Petrotrin notice of a three-month strike starting next Monday, we join all groups hoping this can be averted, and that both can inch towards a settlement somewhere between the zero percent offered by Petrotrin and the 10 percent sought by the OWTU. Meanwhile an anonymous Petrotrin source said the company can be run by a skeleton staff, if most of its 5,000 workers strike.

The task of Baptiste-Primus, herself a veteran trade unionist, will largely be to convey to each side the position of the other, and so work towards a compromise, failing which the matter will head to the Industrial Court.

It is highly regrettable that this matter has been allowed to drag on for so long, from one administration to another, still unsettled.

Does TT need a change to its Constitution and/or industrial relations legislation to mandate a timely settlement of wage-talks, such as a “Labour Ombudsman”? The National Tripartite Advisory Council would have a most welcome role in pushing along labour impasses such as the current.

We sympathise with any worker seeking a decent wage, but we also warn that the stalled economy – as marked by retrenchment in many sectors – cannot afford a strike in a near-essential service that could shut down the transportation grid.

Business organisations have urged restraint.

Making his case OWTU head, Ancel Roget, cast doubt on Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley’s, vow to put things in place in the event of a strike, by arguing that soldiers don’t know how to safely run a cat-cracker at Petrotrin’s Refinery.

The OWTU has expressed its anger at the zero percent offer from a company that has in the past lost hundreds of millions of dollars in bad investments such as the World Gas To Liquids (GTL) Plant and in the dubious South West Soldado Field Project. Petrotrin’s also lost millions as its costs ballooned in its failed Gas Optimisation Project (from US$350 million to US$1,435 million) and its new headquarters (from $75 million to $300 million).

This whole dismal picture would have been registered by ratings agency, Moody’s which downgraded Petrotrin’s creditworthiness last March, and warned of further downgrades. Moody’s said without major investments to boost efficiency, Petrotrin’s cash generation will be weak, even if world oil-prices recover.

While the Prime Minister on Wednesday said that Petrotrin is virtually now a “ward of the Ministry of Finance”, Moody’s had noted the reality of an oil/gas based economy that any Government help for Petrotrin will be weakened by the fact that its revenues come from the same source as Petrotrin’s.

Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, last September lamented that his energy revenues had fallen to $1.7 billion in fiscal 2016 from $20 billion in 2014. Likewise Petrotrin head, Prof Andrew Jupiter, recently said Petrotrin had to cut $1 billion from its operation expenses last year (made of $500 million in each of capital and recurrent expenditure), and expects to cut a further $3.2 billion in fiscal 2017.

TT’s oil production is in the doldrums as is the world-oil price, the only glimmer of hope being this year’s due start-up of the Juniper oil-field, even as American coal will re-emerge under President- elect Donald Trump.

With the likelihood of continued low public revenues, the Government is surely wary that an award to oil-workers will also be sought by workers in other sectors. All should recall the tale of the “Goose that laid the Golden Egg”, and beware of Petrotrin ever facing the same fate of Arcelor Mittal and the Caroni (1975) Limited.

Clearly, fireworks are becoming more menacing. Like all other crime in Trinidad, fireworks are out of control, and the problem symbolises a whole host of other problems in this country. Those of us who follow the law can clearly see that.

Let me list the problems here that Government should consider: 1. People who obtain and use fireworks are breaking the law, and this symbolises a larger problem, namely the feeling many people have that they can choose which laws to follow without any fear of prosecution.

2. Allowing people to buy and set off fireworks undermines respect for the entire police system.

If you can buy fireworks in the open and set off fireworks that sound like bombs, then that means no one respects the police or their neighbours for that matter.

3. Turning a blind eye to the fireworks problem makes the majority of people – the good people trying to contribute to this country — question why they should bother to do the right thing. People begin to question ways in which they can get away with breaking the law.

4. Fireworks are dangerous. Why must I sit in my house and wonder if a Roman rocket is going to hit my house? I have managed to clear my immediate neighbourhood of fireworks. No one within my sight dare set off fireworks because I call the police. By the way, the police do come – even the Belmont police who have responded to very few of my emergencies in the past.

5. Why must good, law abiding people be prisoners in their homes on Old Year’s night because of fireworks? Those of us who have pets can’t leave our pets alone.

It is animal cruelty to the maximum, which is another problem in this country. We have no laws for animal cruelty, and we should.

Why must we be forced to drug our dogs so that they can survive Old Year’s night? What about our sense of peace and our sense of fun? We can’t stay home and enjoy a quiet Old Year’s night because fireworks make us feel like we’re in a war zone.

6. Elderly people and sick people suffer tremendously from fireworks’ noise. They are unsettling, scary and disruptive.

7. At best, fireworks can be considered noise pollution. My rights as a law-abiding citizen should protect me from noise pollution.

It should protect me from people breaking the law.

We law-abiding citizens don’t understand why so many people are blatantly allowed to break the law. We view the situation this way: How can we trust Government to protect us from crime if it can’t even manage illegal activity on the level of fireworks? If it can’t keep fireworks from coming into the country and getting into the hands of thoughtless people, how can it stop guns and drugs from getting in the wrong hands? Fireworks might seem like nothing but a nuisance to some people, but believe me, it symbolises what’s wrong in this country: people feel entitled to do whatever they want, and no one seems to want to stop the nonsense. If Government wants to be taken seriously, then it needs to take care of small, highly manageable problems like fireworks so we can trust Government to take care of the larger issues. In other words, Government, get your act together.

In the first incident, the 26-year-old Venezuelan who works at a bank back in her home country and who was on vacation in Tobago, reported to Scarborough police on Wednesday that a day earlier, she was walking along Bon Accord Road at 1 am, when she stopped a car and told the driver she was looking for a place to stay.

The driver reportedly took the bank clerk to his Bon Accord home on the pretext he was going to offer her accommodation.

The man instead placed a knife to her neck and ordered her to remove all her clothing.

He then proceeded to perform a sex act on her and attempted to rape her but she was able to ward off this attack. The man then ordered the woman to dress and was taking her to another location in Scarborough when she managed to jump out of the vehicle and escape. The victim then solicited assistance from passers-by who took her to the Scarborough police station.

A report was lodged and police took the woman to two different locations in Bon Accord and Scarborough in an attempt to locate the suspect but they were unsuccessful in doing so. In a second incident, a 12-year old school girl reported that on Sunday she was at her sister’s home in Diego Martin when a man known to her, said to be in his early 20s, forced her into a room and raped her.

Following the assault, the girl alerted her mother who took her to the West End Police Station where a report was made.

The girl was attended to by a doctor and the matter was referred to the Child Protection Unit. In the third incident, a 14-year-old college student together with her mother walked into the St James Police Station at 7 pm on Wednesday and reported that the student along with another 14-year-old had sexual intercourse with a 25-year-old man. The girl was unable to give a location where the sex acts took place. However the name of the suspect was given. The matter was referred to the Child Protection Unit and investigations are continuing. Up to press, no suspect had been arrested in the three incidents.

DCP Philip is probing an allegation that the former AG contacted Head of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) David West and allegedly asked him to withdraw as a witness, in a matter involving then Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.

Ramlogan has strenuously denied the allegation. Newsday understands that the probe is nearing completion. Yesterday, Gumbs-Sandiford went to the Police Administration Building in Port-of-Spain at around 10 am and was taken to an office where she was interviewed by DCP Philip and others.

Gumbs-Sandiford who broke the story, in another newspaper, about an alleged phone call made to PCA Director West is reported to have provided to DCP Phillip, recordings of a telephone conversation she had with persons involved in the allegations as well as a top PNM official, before she broke the story.

The recorded telephone conversations were played yesterday for DCP Phillip who took note of statements in the recordings.

According to well placed sources, a file will be soon be submitted to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard SC for his consideration on how police should proceed in the matter.

On January 29, 2015 Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams announced that he had ordered a police probe into an allegation of an attempt to pervert the course of justice made against then Attorney General Anand Ramlogan by Director of the Police Complaints Authority David West.

According to reports, at about 6.10 pm on Wednesday, officers of the Central Division Task Force were on mobile patrol at Enterprise Street when they had cause to stop a vehicle driven by the Imam who was in company with another man. Officers carried out a search of the vehicle and found the loaded pistol. The Imam and the 25-yearold were arrested and investigations are continuing.

In an unrelated incident, officers of the Northern Division carried out an exercise between 11 pm on Tuesday and 6 am on Wednesday and detained three persons aged 61, 39 and 21 for possession of cocaine. A drug den was raided in the Arouca district.

The same team of officers under the supervision of Senior Superintendent Mc Donald Jacob and led by Sgt Ishmael Pitt went to another location in Arouca where they found a home-made shotgun hidden in the ground in a hilly area. The gun was taken to the Forensic Science Centre yesterday for ballistics testing.

Police sources say Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard is expected to review the evidence and give advice on the matter shortly. The Immigration officer has maintained her innocence in the matter and investigations are continuing.