We condemn the civilians who attacked the officer in the strongest possible terms. Such conduct cannot be condoned in a situation where officers daily risk their lives to protect and serve amid increasing levels of crime and violence.

We are fully cognizant of the fact that the police are often accused of using disproportionate force. Police killings of unarmed civilians in circumstances that cannot be defended must stop.

But that is no justification for a mob attack on an officer of the law. As a country, we cannot keep jumping between extremes. One minute police are murdering civilians, the next minute civilians are murdering police. This is a recipe for anarchy.

We should all be concerned about the recent string of incidents involving violence against police officers. And these incidents cannot help but remind us of the ominous threats issued at the police a few weeks ago by Laventille residents after a police shooting there. It may be that the police response to those threats – issued in the presence of none other than the top cop, Acting Commissioner Stephen Williams – was not adequately addressed. It is an offence to use threatening or offensive language at a police officer.

The much-discussed manpower audit of the Police Service must be expedited. We hope this audit will identify the areas where more resources are needed.

In the meanwhile, we note the complaints of officers who have had to work long shifts and in conditions where they have been forced to deal with aggressive crowds. There should be proper protocols to limit officers being placed in situations where they are vulnerable to attack. While we sympathize with those who hold the view that discipline needs to be upheld, it is no longer good enough to simply say police officers must do their jobs. We must be careful that we are not placing officers in invidious situations.

While we insist that they must deliver, we cannot leave them as targets. It is true that being a police officer is inherently a stressful and dangerous task. But that is no reason for the State to contribute to that by not giving officers the systems and resources they need to ensure they work at their optimum level. A tired cop is not a good cop. In fact, she or he is more likely to be a bad cop, especially when armed. This may well be a factor in the many police shootings which have so rightly provoked outrage.

The challenge facing officers, though, does not only relate to the Carnival season. It is manifest in failings that are becoming more and more glaring daily and in all walks of life. Not having adequate police cover affects a range of agencies, from the local government to national level.

A question must also be raised about the levels of training enjoyed by officers, particularly the Special Reserve Police officers.

Are those levels high enough? Even if we determine there needs to be more officers, how can we ensure a consistently high level of training? While Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has expressed the view that there are enough police officers, we still hope the manpower committee – led by former Independent Senator Professor Ramesh Deosaran – will be free to make recommendations on that matter. Whatever the outcome of the audit, the issue will be quality, not just quantity. For now, it is clear that we cannot afford to leave one policeman to man a crowd of 50 drunk Carnival revellers.

That is simply unacceptable.

Chambers’ “command” was made at a time, as now, following Carnival and, also, as now, when this country was facing challenges to its economy due to a drastic collapse in oil prices.

It is not that Chambers was not a “Carnival man.” Indeed, I venture to suggest that his spirit must be joyous at this time seeing that his (and my) favourite steelband, Massy Trinidad All Stars, in which he was known to be at “last lap”, has again displayed its prowess as the overall unchallenged leading exponent of the national musical instrument.

But Chambers was a realist and, above all, a patriot, and his summons to the people of TT was based on an underlying situation which demanded sound economic management.

Indeed, the measures subsequently implemented by his government were unpopular with a population which was being nurtured by a “gimme gimme syndrome” which was being advanced by his own party — the PNM. He was destined to lose the 1986 general election and retired from political life.

Nevertheless, Chambers’ administration has, in hindsight, been credited with having laid the foundation which was to lead to the strong economic growth which was to follow subsequently.

Will history be repeating itself given the similarity with present- day circumstances, including PNM incumbency in office? However, while the structure of this country’s economy has made its fortunes and the general course of events heavily dependent on governmental activity, nevertheless the private sector has a most important role to play, particularly in manufacturing and distribution of local produce.

Indeed, it is here that the stated government policy for diversification of the economy out of the oil “one-crop” must focus. Clearly, the Government, as facilitator, is duty bound to provide the atmosphere and the incentives were such diversification to come to fruition.

Much work needs to be done in reorganisation of the very much oversized public enterprises sector — a matter which I have been at pains to address. However, not much appears to have been done.

In this regard, I must say that, unless the reading of the next Budget is being awaited, it is beyond me to have to observe that there appears to be difficulty in identifying: (1) Enterprises which are a drain on an already stretched national Treasury.

(2) Clear areas of duplication of effort such as CEPEP and URP.

(3) Service providers and public utilities, some of which have not had rates and charges adjusted in line with their operating costs for as long as 30 years or more.

(4) Enterprises which ought clearly to be “at home” in the private sector.

(5) The contents of the long-awaited procurement framework.

It is to be noted that the government of Jamaica is about to engage on a public sector reorganisation.

I would hope that ministers, statutory authorities and boards (and these are not difficult to identify) will heed the recent “admonishment” of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and that those who have not yet done so will, at last, get down to work. After all, the year 2020 is but three years away

According to reports at about 4pm a homeless woman in her mid-sixties was attempting to cross the highway in the vicinity of Lifestyle Motors.

She had made it to the median and was crossing to the other side when she was hit by a black Nissan Tiida. The woman died on the spot, a few metres from a walk-over. Barataria police are continuing investigations.

According to police, at about 8.50 am the body of Kofi Goodridge, 25, and of no fixed abode, was discovered in a drain at Mendoza Lane. His body bore two bullet wounds, one to the head and one to the chest.

Residents reported hearing gunshots on Friday night and it is believed this was when he was killed and his body dumped in the drain. Investigations are continuing.

In an unrelated incident two men were shot in Petit Valley on Friday night. According to reports at 10.30 pm Manuel Duncan, 19, and Kerron Saunders, 32, both of Sparrow Drive, were liming in a group at Simeon Road, Petit Valley when a black Nissan Tiida pulled up. Three masked men armed with guns came out and fired upon the group. The men ran but Duncan was shot in his left buttocks while Saunders was shot in his right thigh.

The vehicle used by the gunmen was later found abandoned a short distance away. PC Benjamin of Four Road CID is continuing inquiries.

Addressing Chowtaal Sammelan celebrations at the Maha Sabha’s headquarters, St Augustine, Maharaj told devotees: “Many of you may ask, ‘Who is funding this festival? But I will begin by telling you who are not funding. The Ministry of Education and the State. They are not giving us a single penny to run this festival.” He said the children’s festival, which has been in existence for the past 31 years, was not being funded by the taxpayers.

“It is funded by you, the parents and the well-wishers of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha and in recent years, by the Republic Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.” The bank has provided funding for the festival for the past nine years.

The Baal Vikaas Festival, a compulsory programme for all of the 43 schools under the Maha Sabha’s jurisdiction, showcases the talents of the students in the fields of singing, dancing, and music.

Maharaj said the initiative formed part of the teaching and learning process.

“The principal and teachers are all here with their children, teaching them how to be disciplined, how to perform on stage and now the children have become masters in mass communication,” he said.

Maharaj said previously the students would have been shy to perform on stage “but now they face the camera and grab the microphone.” He said learning was not limited to book knowledge but included values and exposure to the aesthetics.

Maharaj said the Maha Sabha’s schools were successful because of its “anchorage in this kind of setting.” In his address, chairman of the Baal Vikaas Committee Ramlogan Palloo told the audience that Education Minister Anthony Garcia would face “stern opposition” from Hindu organisations if schools were being targeted for participation in Carnival events such as the annual National Carnival Schools Intellectual Chutney Soca Monarch.

During the recently-concluded Carnival season, Garcia had complained about the lack of participation by Hindu schools in the National Carnival Schools Intellectual Chutney Soca Monarch competition.

But Maharaj had said SDMS schools were being unfairly targeted, arguing that the decision to play the steel-pan/tassa and sing soca/chutney/calypso music in school was a parental choice.

He said it was not a decision which can be foisted on students and their parents by the Government and a minister.

Aldrin Ramgoolam, general manager, Information Technology Management Division, Republic Bank, said no culture can survive in isolation.

“We believe that when we promote these traditions, we spread positive awareness through our nation and to the world at large and we believe that our children are at the very heart and soul of our people,” he said “We are proud to be part of something that preserves our culture through the cultivation of the minds and talents of our children.”

The Genius of Geoffrey Holder began on February 1 and continues until May 30 at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning in New York.

In an advertisement it was stated that Holder “is well represented in all of the research and circulating collections of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

In this exhibition, he is honoured for his career in dance and theatre, his Tony Award–winning work as director and costume designer for The Wiz, and contributions to the repertory of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Dance Theatre of Harlem”. The multi-media exhibition was previously held in 2015.

Holder was born and raised in Trinidad and was a past student of Tranquillity Government Primary School and Queen’s Royal College.

As an actor has appeared in movies such as the James Bond film Live Let and Die (1973) and the Eddie Murphy romantic comedy Boomerang and also appeared in commercials and did voice-over work.

Over his long stage career he had appeared in, choreographed, directed and provided costumes for numerous plays, and was also an author and composer. In 1972, he received the Humming Bird Medal Gold (for Dance).

Holder died in Manhattan in October 2014 of complications from pneumonia. He was 84. He was the younger brother of renowned dancer, choreographer, and artist Boscoe Holder, also deceased. He is survived by his wife, Carmen, and son L?o.

Last Saturday, Dorothy Hosein’s body was pulled out from a pond and her limbs had been tied with a piece of rope behind her back.

The body was facedown in the pond on an aqua farm at St John’s Road, Rio Claro.

An autopsy report revealed she was beaten to death with several injuries to the head.

A police report stated she was murdered shortly after withdrawing $10,000, three months worth in pension, from the bank.

Police had been exploring the possibility she may have been liming with her attacker who may have known about the money.

They are seeking close circuit television footage from nearby businesses to aid in their investigation.

Ali recalled her mother’s life during the funeral at Christ the King RC Church in Piparo. She said her mother was a “sweet woman who was loved by the community”.

Even as she called for justice, Kelvin Dass, the lay minister who presided at the service, urged Ali and her two siblings to move beyond seeking revenge and ask God to help them forgive their mother’s assailant.

“To seek justice is right, but we need to move from just wanting revenge because that would not make anyone better.

“Jesus gave us a remedy for the pain free of charge and, that remedy is forgiveness,” Dass said.

Dass said the family, in order to avoid becoming bitter, should ask for God to give them the grace to help them to forgive whoever took Hosein’s life.

The boat, the MV Persia II, left Port-of-Spain on Thursday and made its first call in Grenada offloading cargo there. On Friday morning, the vessel set sail for Kingstown, St Vincent when it developed a leak and began to sink about nine miles off the coast of Grenada.

The nine-member crew were saved by the Grenada coast guard which made the rescue in choppy waters and amid strong winds.

Dry goods, valued in EC dollars, including grocery supplies for the month earmarked for hundreds of Vincentians were lost at sea.

According to St Vincent reports, every item sunk with the vessel at about 7.45 am on Friday.

Captained by Nicaraguan Hermongenes Watt, the MV Persia II began to take in water in rough sea conditions.

The nine-member crew made attempts to activate the pumps but they malfunctioned.

The captain radioed an emergency and the Grenada coast guard responded, but the coast guardsmen could not save the vessel which had taken in too much water by the time they had arrived.

They rescued the captain and crew and took them to Grenada.

Peter Oliviere of St Vincent-based Island Wide Shipping, which owns the vessel, in one report thanked the Grenada coast guard for their rescue.

“Island Wide Shipping is thankful to the coast guard of Grenada for saving all the lives of the crew members on board.

Island Wide Shipping is in the process of notifying customers who lost cargo as a result of this unfortunate incident.

The management and staff thanks all those who have sent messages, called or visited in this time of sadness,” he said.

Island Wide Shipping closed for business yesterday and will reopen tomorrow. St Vincent and the Grenadines Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Saboto Caesar, reacting to incident, said the MV Persia II had served the island’s agriculture sector for many years with a high level of efficiency. In a Facebook post he said, “We are saddened by its destruction at sea earlier today.” Vincentians, some of them customers, also posted comments on Facebook. Cassandra Bruce wrote, “All my groceries gone.

This is not good news at all. Definitely (the vessel) served quite faithfully throughout the years.” In another post, Ollivierre McFee said, “I know that’s a loss that all traffickers are going to feel, especially those who lost their stuff today. Real sad news.” The MV Persia was built in the 1940s and had a cargo capacity of 247 tonnes. For more than 20 years, the vessel transported ground provisions and vegetables from St Vincent and other islands to Trinidad and Tobago weekly. Traders on-board bought dry foodstuffs, mattresses and small appliances in Trinidad to sell in Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“We need to make a check of all baggage on board. Please bear with us. We are sorry for the inconvenience.” These were not the exact words.

I’m sure they sounded a lot more trained, but that’s your gist.

My friend Nyla looks at me, and laughs. It’s dry laughter.

‘Did you hear that?’ she asked.

“Nope.” I continue surfing through Turkish Airline’s movie list.

‘A man came on board with his luggage and has refused to fly.

Now they have to check all the luggage on board.’ “Oh,” I continue poking the touch screen.

‘Well at least I know I’m not going to die alone,’ she remarked.

“Uh huh,” I mumble.

I’m not too sure whether my reaction had to do with ‘I expected this’ given that there had been several spates of bombings in Istanbul right before we had embarked on our journey, or whether it was my characteristic emotional shut down when something that has the potential to be tragic begins to happen. Or perhaps it’s just that Trinidadian laid-back attitude that allows the Carnival to go on. I figured it was a combination of everything.

Passengers were co-operative and didn’t seem too perturbed.

Perhaps the security check was a relief in a place where an explosion is generally the order of the day.

Half an hour later we were happily on to our destination.

I returned to Trinidad the week before Carnival where, despite the ‘few’ incidents of loss of life (now a part of daily living here), the show was in full swing. During my stay away from the island, much had happened. I lost two friends to sudden deaths, there was news of a surge in crime and basically, from the air, there didn’t seem to be anything positive happening here. Time abroad allows one to look in and see things that we don’t see when we are in the thick of things. When you aren’t chipping along with the band on the road, your rhythm is different.

And India was definitely a different sort of carnival.

But, I missed the rains at home.

In India, the seasons felt too organized.

Organized is a good word in the context of a place where walking the roads is a test of one’s physical and mental reflexes. It’s a case of dodge the vehicles and people — stop — run — stop — reach other side safely. Needless to say, Trinidad seemed pretty organized. Yet I loved the chaos in India. And the weather simply did not facilitate full chaos. It was winter. And that meant no rains.

In Trinidad, it was the sporadic rains that I missed. I figured it had to do with the cathartic nature of rain and in the spirit of the Carnival, I wished to enjoy the surprise of grey skies that wrap us in feelings of cosy happiness so that, even if we have to work, it’s okay to be lazy that day. The island is bound in the camaraderie of laziness that makes it fine to be slow on a rainy day. Not on Carnival though. No, no.

Despite the debates about women’s bodies, owning sexuality and victim blaming, the latter of which had prompted a friend to message me to ask if I had heard the latest bacchanal about Rowley’s comment in Maloney — life goes on. I was away from it all and I simply asked ‘he gone mad?’ But then I didn’t have the full story so it was the only question I could ask. Even if he had gone mad, he wasn’t alone. It was the entire country. So, despite the raining crime — the slitting of throats, the human trafficking and the drug trades — nothing stops the Carnival. We might postpone it perhaps but we can’t stop it.

As I write this, Carnival is in progress. It’s raining and I’m happily sipping a cup of green tea thinking about entertainment and art. As divergent as that thought might seem in the context of this piece there is a thread.

It is that entertainment thrives in situations of oppression. It’s a testament to the fact that the world isn’t binary. There are just contradictions and conflicts. And we put odds and ends together to create our lives.

So, even while we denounce the crime, few will boycott the Carnival.

It’s a cathartic event. And we need catharsis.

For moments of catharsis restore some semblance of balance within the chaos of life.

And of course, liming in the streets of Port-of-Spain.

The rhythms of the two valleys are different though. From the coast up– with the surf, the gentle river flows, the rapids and waterfalls, to the wind in the upper valleys — everywhere along the river courses —the rhythm is different.

However, the melody is very much the same, valley to valley. The melody comes in all day long, but it changes slowly during the course of the day as different players awaken to call for their mates—just like Carnival in town? The Bearded Bellbirds wake at dawn, and their clanging call could well be the inspiration for the first “ring of the ‘iron’” on J’Ouvert morning! But it is the flocks of green parrots that follow who cause the neighbourhood, the forest to awaken. As discordant in the sky as green jab-jabs on the streets, the parrots wake up everything which was still asleep — even the flowers start to spread their petals, showing off their costumes to the flighty little jewels darting in and out the band to kiss each spreading bloom! While flowers spread their charms for the myriad humming birds to come in and “wine” on their nectar, higher up— in the canopies—bigger, louder birds arrive to play. A band of Crested Oropendolas—Corn Birds to us— arrive to play their mas’ on one of the kings, a massive immortelle tree, emblazoned in a vermillion coat and moving its costume in the growing wind. From its extended branches hang dozens of the long, swinging nests of the corn birds.

These noisy birds have come to fete, to mate. They display their costumes by turning up their yellow tail feathers and waving their bumsees at their suitors— winin’ back-back just like we humans do on the big stage! And finally, in the birds’ categories—the Toucans! A whole band of them — come flying by, dancing in the sky.

Their huge multi-coloured beaks keeping them off-balance as they look like they might somersault while in flight! Mas players with headpieces a little too heavy to truly dance on stage! But what fancy costumes they wear! They rest on the naked branches of a Balata tree nearby. Band of the day for sure on Monday! Las lap comes early in the forest, and the mournful call of the Tinamou signals the rapid arrival of the night and the silence of the bands.

On Tuesday, to paraphrase Lord Kitchener “Rain came, and mash up mas all day”.

Welcome showers, sweeping up the valley, close behind each other, bring blissful cooling to our land.

But the showers do dampen the colours in the hills, and the greens turn dull instead of sparkling with dew in the sunshine.

And the players, the birds, only come out to display in brief spells while the sun tries to break through. A rainbow appears on stage, and a moko jumbie, playing Banana Tree, arrives to limbo under it! Two Marbleu butterflies come dancing in a sunbeam, the sunlight flashing like strobes off their brilliant blue wings, and they disappear, just ahead of another shower! My mind runs to butterfly mas and of course Minshall’s Papillon, of oh-so-many-years ago. I remember standing in the road at the entrance to the savannah, when they reach (sic), in brilliant sunshine, thousands of human-sized butterflies, with huge gossamer wings through which the sun danced with each butterfly’s flight. Back then they did not chase one off the road like today, so I stood there in wonder watching this mass of mas approach me, envelope me as they pass, I like an old flower to be checked by several, beautiful sparkling butterfly-women who take a wine on me, leave with a smile and move on to mount the stage and perform. It was so moving that I never even turned around when they had all flitted by, to watch them mount the stage and then fly off to another year, another mas, another fantasy. Back to the present and Ash Wednesday dawns with brilliant sunshine, and the forest returns to its own never-ending mas, its colours, its songs, its raucous “jab-jab” parrots, its strangely waving trees, but all with serenity.

Our forests have inspired much of our mas — Minshall and MacWilliams come to mind of course.

And I certainly understand why.

Is there a Ma d a m a s mas in our future?