Police said Grant was not at home at the time of the fire. Residents were alerted to thick black smoke coming from the premises and they contacted fire officers of the San Fernando Fire Headquarters based at Mon Repos.

The report stated that the blaze spread rapidly throughout the house and by the time fire officers arrived on the scene, the house was already engulfed in flames.

Up to late yesterday, the cause of the fire was not determined.

Investigations are continuing.

Newsday understands that over 150 police and soldiers, led by Senior Superintendents Radcliffe Boxhill, Florice Hodge-Griffith and Simbonath Rajkumar, along with Assistant Superintendents Ajith Persad and Bailey, and officers of the Port-of-Spain Criminal Investigation Department, Inter Agency Task Force, K-9 Section and the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit cordoned off several areas of Laventille, including Beverley Hills.

The Windy Hill, Arouca, resident made the find while trekking through a forested area where he saw a human skull surrounded by bones. He notified the police who dispatched a team of officers Senior Supt McDonald Jacob, Supt Neville Sankar, and Sgt Robert Joseph. The skeleton was found in the same area where a male corpse was discovered last Thursday.

Groome-Duke presented hampers to the mothers in celebration of their babies’ birth.

Ricia Julien from John Dial was first to give birth at 6.34 am. The baby, a girl which is Julien’s third child, weighed in at 3.15 kilogrammes.

The shy Julien said that she was happy that she had a safe delivery.

The second baby, a boy, was born to Shanique Alexander-Sharpe from Canaan at 8.22am and weighed four kilogrammes.

The third baby was born to Catrice Sobers from Patience Hill. The child, a boy, was born at 12 pm and is Sobers’ first child weighing 3.53 kilogrammes. The fourth baby was delivered to Renee Solomon of Castara Road, Mount Saint George at 3.37pm.

Other mothers on the ward were also wished continued “blessings and well-being for the new year and beyond.” The Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) also celebrated the safe delivery of a baby boy born to Precious Williams at the Sangre Grande Hospital at 12.30 am. Esme Rawlins-Charles, Chairman of the ERHA’s Board of Directors, and director Gloria Andrews, were on hand to congratulate Williams and presented her with a hamper filled with baby products. Williams, who resides in Guayaguayare, thanked the staff at the hospital for the safe delivery of her baby.

Further west, Yorke Inc held it’s annual Dutch Party at Ann Avenue, Diego Martin.

The event has for years been a great mix between the end of the Christmas season and the start of the Carnival season. Singer Eddie Charles gave a full performance, while Ricardo Drue couldn’t help but jump in and give a cameo performance much to the delight of those who attended.

Over the last two years, inclement weather made it difficult to party in the open area although it didn’t stop the die hard party-goers.This time around there was no such hindrance.

Yorke Inc. will be having their all-inclusive Carnival party on February 5.

Missing from the regular line up of New Year’s Day Carnival parties was Soccer Fete which is always held in Sangre Grande.

Sources told Newsday that the 12 judges and two tabulators who were used during the preliminary, semi final and final stages of last year’s competition, have not been compensated up to yesterday. The concerns of the judges reached a climax when they were informed of the launch of the 2017 edition of the competition through the media like the rest of the nation.

According to the source, the other judges are feeling very disrespected about the entire situation. For the last two months, rumours circulated that the competition was not going to be hosted because of insufficient funding. That rumour came to a halt when one media house reported that registration for the competition would commence today.

None payment, lack of courtesy and professionalism, are the concerns of the judges and tabulators.

The source stated that since the competition ended on Fantastic Friday 2016, calls, emails and other forms of communication to CPF Chairman Peter Scoon, by the judges have been unanswered. Other attempts by the uncompensated group to contact other members of the CPF team have also gone unanswered except for one occasion. In July 2016, someone answered the office telephone of CPF and stated that money would be paid to the judges when sponsors fulfil their commitments. Since then, no other conversation took place between the stakeholders. The judges are surprised that CPF is getting into new business arrangements and have not completed old business.

“I think that justice is too slow in the country, and there are too many delays in the administration of justice,” he said. “I believe the Judiciary must take a long and hard look at itself and begin to examine where it has fallen short.

I think there are things the Judiciary can do to improve the speed of justice, but that must come from the desire to be self-critical and to accept criticism from the public. That is very important.” He said it is time to speak freely and honestly about the state of the Judiciary.

“What has been happening in my view is that every year we get the Judiciary, at the opening of the Law Term, the Chief Justice in particular, with all respect to him, making statements about marginal improvements and treating that as excellent, when in fact it is not.” Rambachan said the Judiciary must do more than merely blame the Government and the parliamentarians.

“The Judiciary has to accept that in the management of the Judiciary there are things that they can change and they must focus on where those changes can take place. People must not wait 20 years for justice.

That is wrong by all counts. So the Judiciary has to play a role.” He said the Magistrates court postpones too many cases, therefore leaving offenders who are awaiting their hearing to commit more crimes. Rambachan, in addition, called for better leadership of the TT Police Service, whose leader, he said, must display operational skills so as to get results and end the chaos now in the country. Rambachan was shocked at the brazenness of bandits who no longer bother to wear masks to hide their identities.

Further, he described Government’s current leadership as “uninspiring”, even as the citizenry is becoming more and more hopeless and is throwing up their collective arms in the air.

“The Government is not in touch with the feelings and the plight of the people,” he opined.

Rambachan said too many people are “romanticising” crime, by trying to find all kinds of explanations for criminality, but which in fact he said is just an excuse for inaction.

While borderline criminals might be redeemable, hardcore criminals can only be stopped by a Government that has decided to fight back aggressively.

However if the authorities fail to act, sooner or later the people will have to lead the fight back, he predicted. “Soon it will be the people versus the criminals. There is breakdown everywhere – the homes, school and street. A strong dose of discipline has to be injected into this country,” concluded Rambachan.

Newsday was unable to contact Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, for his views on stemming murder.

His statement, in reply to a letter to the editor that called for the Government to outlaw scratch bombs, made a reference to the death of Jameel Allamby, a disabled man unable to escape a blaze reportedly caused by the reckless use of fireworks.

Cuffie said that he too is troubled and angered by the torment endured by all citizens at the hands of users of scratch bombs every year, but said it is wrong to claim that successive governments have failed to effectively deal with the scourge by not outlawing it.

“To be clear, scratch bombs are already illegal in Trinidad and Tobago,” Cuffie said.

“However, complaints like yours and hundreds of other citizens, underscore the fact that laws alone are not enough to stop this scourge.

This is why as Minister with responsibility for Communications, I initiated a campaign against scratch bombs which approached the problem from the perspective of a culture of care for our neighbours, our elderly and pets.” Cuffie said a culture of care and personal responsibility is needed to ensure a safer and better Trinidad and Tobago.

“Our approach would be flawed if we excluded the duties we all have as citizens to do our part to stop the sale and use of scratch bombs.” He said law enforcement has a significant role, as he commended the TT Police Service (TTPS) for issuing a number of advisories and conducting raids to try to stem the sale and use of scratch bombs.

“However, the fire on Nelson Street (Port of Spain), reportedly caused by fireworks, which left one dead and six families homeless, highlights the fact that we all have a part to play: from the vendors to the parents to the people who buy and light scratch bombs and illegal fireworks without a thought for the serious harm they can cause.”

Saying many do not share optimism or hope about the future, he listed the issues that the Government seems unable or unwilling to handle. These are crime, economy, health sector, jobs, poverty, inequity and discrimination, industrial relations, education and schools, and corruption.

“In the past 30 years we have used a strategy of changing parties in office when they failed to address, far less resolve, these many issues,” Abdulah related.

“That strategy has now left us in the present state where we do not share hope about the future. This is because none of the changes in governments has resulted in real change. We have tried out, more than once, the two traditional political parties with the same result.

To go back to the one that is now in opposition is truly to go backwards. And the one that is now in government is not taking us forward.” Reflecting on the proverb, “A people without a vision perish”, he said the Government has no vision for TT, while the Opposition’s only vision is to try to re-enter office by opposing the Government even if this hurts citizens, such as the FATCA issue.

He blamed the lack of a shared vision on why much cannot be solved now – crime, corruption and economy – with different sectors of society left with no choice but to pursue their self interest.

“Our optimism is rooted in our faith in the human spirit and our history which is one where through the united struggles of our people we moved ‘out of slavery, through indenture and up to freedom’”.

He said a crisis now exists because neither independence nor the first republic created the economic or governance systems to facilitate our freedom and our sense of ownership and responsibility for the well-being of the nation and its citizens.

“The way out of our predicament is therefore for us to come to the conscious realization that we need to change not only ‘who’ is in power but the very systems of economic and political power.

This requires us to have a ‘revolution of the mind’ that challenges the status quo and lets us to re-imagine the future and see a different TT.

“The MSJ has great confidence that the people of TT have the capacity to re-imagine the future,” Abdulah said. “For our part we will be continuing the process of engaging citizens in their communities – both geographical communities and communities of interest – to listen to what they are saying and to share our Vision of The Second Republic.” He hoped this process will contribute to the “revolution of the mind” to build a movement that is united and conscious of the need for fundamental change.

“We therefore look to 2017 with hope that change is not only necessary but possible in TT in this process of moving out of slavery, through indenture, up to freedom and towards the Second Republic”.

“A New Year begins and with it comes new hopes and aspirations – a faint desire that fosters in every human heart __ for happiness, prosperity and goodness.” Saying many view 2016 as an “annus horriblis (horrid year)” of bloodshed, a tottering economy and failing institutions, with citizens called on to make sacrifices in every area of life, while powerless over the hazards of brinkmanship posed by our leaders.

“It is time that we look to the future with optimism and renew our faith, both in ourselves and our country,” Bharath urged.

“We must be more responsible for our own actions and hold our leaders accountable for theirs. We must make this a society that works for all and not just a few. We must break from the old orthodoxies of race, religion and tribalism, if we are to eliminate corruption, nepotism and incompetence.” But Bharath said that above all, we must embrace the four freedoms urged by United States President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1941: Freedoms of Speech, Worship, Want and Fear. He said 2017 is new.

“It is an unopened present, a new opportunity, an excitement that brings with it the anticipation of a better future,” Bharath said.

“I salute the people of Trinidad and Tobago for their stoic resilience and patriotic spirit, and take this opportunity to wish you and your families a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017.

I leave you with the words of (British poet) TS Elliot, ‘For last years words belong to last years language, and next years words await another’s voice.