As rocky as the road has been “we jamming still” and it was all worth it particularly for giving the nation the respite that it always looks forward to at this time. But the fun time we are about to have must add up to a grand time, and not one overshadowed by pain and grief because of that one lapse which is almost always a common sense issue as indeed most safety advice is actually plain common sense, even as persons must trust their instincts. Listen to that little voice in your head that is warning you against getting into a particular car, or accepting a drink from a stranger.

Revellers should stay in their group, morseo overseas visitors who likely cannot read the subtle signs of TT’s ever-changing social nuances.

In turn every Trinbagonian has a duty to be an ambassador for TT so that visitors will take home only positive memories of their stay.

Please don’t let your exuberance become a source of angst for someone else. For example, noise levels should be moderated in neighbourhoods where the infant, elderly and infirm reside, plus persons who simply may not wish for pounding waves of bass music to be penetrating into their private abode.

Please, turn down the bass. We trust that the police at stations across the country will promptly respond to any such complaints.

Jubilation taken to excess can lead to great sorrow, the perfect example of this being drunk driving. So much awareness has been preached on this plague that there is now absolutely no excuse for potential death-dealers to pose a deadly hazard to the general public and they must be dealt the full brunt of the law, Carnival season or no Carnival season.

Given the heightened sense of sexuality at Carnival, we reiterate our advice for care amid the revelry. Some persons will exercise self-restraint, but others will let loose. Whatever you do, please act with utmost responsibility.

To head off the possibility of HIV transmission and unwanted pregnancy, please recall the guidelines in respective order, “ABC”, Abstain, Be Faithful, Condomise.

Even if one ignores the first two options and instead chooses casual sex, please let the proper use of a condom be your standard operating procedure.

Our reminder is aimed at both men and women. A moment of pleasure should not result in a lifetime of regret. (We also remind that TT’s age of consent is 18, unless the partners are within three years of each other.) Another device that can help keep revellers safe is the cellphone.

If someone is making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, you can discretely take a photo and send to a friend or relative’s phone by pre-arrangement, such as photographing the licence plate of a taxi/PH car you are about to enter.

The environment poses risks, chiefly excessive heat from the sun and excessive noise from music trucks, threatening dehydration and hearing-loss respectively.

Take care with whatever is ingested, such as alcohol (and the threat of “spiking” with date-rape drugs) and food (avoiding unsanitary including preparation). Regarding child safety, while some authorities urge the use of name-tags, others warn that these devices allow predators to pretend to know the child, so this will be a personal decision.

Jam still but be safe.

Such a discussion, however, has to be reserved for a subsequent column. This column confines itself to outlining various views on the subject of State funding for Carnival.

The February 20 Newsday posed a topical and provocative question as follows: “Can Carnival survive without Government support?” Interestingly, of the 12 people interviewed by the newspaper and their responses published in the “People In The Street” column, seven people (the majority) said it can, one was non-committal and four said the festival needed Government’s financial backing to survive.

It is noteworthy that, of the seven who said Carnival could survive without Government’s financial assistance, six of them had addresses in north Trinidad — Portof- Spain, Morvant (2), Laventille, Cascade and St Augustine and the majority were women.

Some expressed the view that Carnival is a business and should be run as such and, having been commercialised over the years, is now big business. Others lamented that Government funds have spawned levels of corruption in Carnival and, instead of being self-reliant, people have become lazy with easy access to State funds.

Indeed, many are the reports of the role of organisers, officers of the various associations, cultural entrepreneurs, lobbyists and middle men who capture State funds and utilise them for various unspecified purposes without record or accountability.

While the respondents referred to above cannot be deemed a statistically significant sample, they were, I believe, randomly chosen and do, in my view, reflect the views of a large portion of the population on this one aspect of the Carnival enterprise.

I am not quite certain what aspects of Carnival Government’s funds are eventually employed to support. My own position is that people should be free to enjoy themselves in whatever form they choose within the confines of the law and generally acceptable social norms. They however should do so at their own expense.

I do take exception to the tax dollars to which I contribute being used to support aspects of the celebration which glorify nakedness, lewdness, crassness and violence and which promotes calypso lyrics devoid of creativity or class with some of them flagrantly denigrating sectors of the population.

Nevertheless, there are thousands who are of the firm conviction that Carnival must be financially supported by the Government since it is the national culture and its health and well-being cannot be reduced merely to monetary considerations.

They will argue that pan is now established as the national instrument and is vigorously promoted only during the Carnival season while calypso as an art form is the epitome of our verbal cultural expression and can only flourish in the Carnival environment.

There are still many others who cling to the view that Government’s funding of Carnival is necessary to boost tourism and foreign exchange earnings despite scepticism expressed about the sustainability of the industry based on the attraction of a two-day festival. In any event, a rigorous analysis of financial costs and benefits of the Carnival celebration would cast serious doubt on the claim that the tourist arrivals associated with it do in fact boost our net foreign exchange earnings.

Then there are those who believe that withdrawal of Government support would see an escalation in crime. However, despite huge Government funding over the years , crime has escalated to unprecedented levels.

Just before 11am, children accompanied by their parents and guardians assembled at the OWTU’s Paramount Building headquarters, Circular Road, to begin the long trek to the Skinner Park judging point.

And it was there that, shortly after 12 noon, the first band – House of Jacqui’s 2017 Children’s Carnival Band presentation, I Dreamt I Had Wings like a Bird, appeared before the judges’ panel.

San Fernando Mayor, Junia Regrello, who officially launched the celebrations after the House of Jacqui’s crossing, remarked that the future of San Fernando mas was “bright” given the colourful nature of the band.

The second band was the children’s section of Lionel Jagessar and Associates 2017 presentation – San Fernando Heartbeat which was accompanied by reigning 2017 San Fernando Carnival Queen, Rosemarie Kuru-Jagessar.

An intermittent cross wind at Skinner Park proved to be a challenge to some masqueraders as the wind threatened to blow those who sported long plumage across the stage

There were also vendors offering make-up and face painting services under white tents on the promenade during the parade.

The South Quay judging point had a large number of spectators, both in the stands and on the sidewalk, taking in the cute toddlers in their Carnival finery; some had to be held by one hand while others chipped and twirled on their own with just a little guidance now and then from the adults who accompanied them.

Police officers were stationed along the route, with several based at the judging points, while still more officers passed along the route in their official vehicles.

The sun shone brightly around 2.30 pm yesterday as young boys in lime green and white Fancy Indian costumes, from the Warriors section of the band, The Reservation, danced in front of the judges on South Quay.

Belmont Boys RC School presented Pierrots on Parade, which featured pierrot grenades in various colour combinations as well as a male individual dressed as a black and white midnight robber-pierrot grenade.

Rain started falling shortly after 3.30 pm, prompting the spectators on the sidewalks to seek shelter under the eaves of the Courts store on the corner of South Quay and Chacon Street. The masqueraders however didn’t let the drizzle turned light shower affect them – they chipped, twirled and zig-zagged across the stage through it all.

One of the more unusual presentations was by Coco-Lily Productions.

Their presentation, Mama Tell Me When, included children with headpieces that looked like black vinyl records with red centres while another section; Mama Uz To Watch TTT, featured three boys with TV-shaped headpieces with the logo of the now defunct State television company, Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT).

“I mean, no random person is coming in the area,” said son-inlaw Ansil Henry.

“When you talk about this area, everyone knows who lives out the road.

“Molly was the type of person who was always there to assist with anything happening in the district or with anyone.

“Most importantly, she lived for her children and grandchildren.” She was a mother of three.

Police, on Saturday morning, fished out Hosein’s body from a fish pond in Rio Claro.

Both her hands and feet were hogtied.

There were visible marks of violence and investigators believe Hosein may have been strangled.

Hosein,of Reserve Road off Pascall Road, Piparo, was employed with the Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) and was also a hairdresser.

Police reports are at about 8 am Saturday, a tilapia farmer visited several ponds in his garden off St John’s Road, near Brothers Road, Rio Claro, and found a body face down in one of them.

The hands and feet were submerged and only the back was visible.

Yesterday Henry recalled that at about 7.30 pm on Friday when Hosein’s son Sheik returned home from work, he realised she was not there.

He telephoned her several times but she failed to respond.

Sheik went with his vehicle in search of his mother on the assumption she may have been stranded for transportation.

His desperate search and numerous calls to relatives ended at about 3 am on Saturday.

At about 9 am on Saturday, Sheik reported at the Princes Town Police Station that his mother was missing.

But unknowing to the family, news of the death was already circulating via social media, accompanied by photos of the body.

Henry added that the images left the family further traumatised.

“My wife had a hard night because she saw the images of her mother.

“Everyone still trying to deal with the images we saw.” Henry insisted that the family is not casting blame on the government for the gruesome murder as those in authority cannot control people’s minds.

“As a nation, everyone must take responsibility for his/her actions.” He charged that police cannot be omnipresent to prevent such crimes.

In the same breath, Henry said the family is not optimistic that police would do a thorough investigation into the murder.

“We are expecting nothing to come out of this case. Every time we as civilians raise issues surrounding the attitude of the police, we always hear excuses.

“Nobody is taking responsibility. We have police officers who do not have respect for themselves.” An autopsy is expected to be performed at the Forensic Sciences Centre on Wednesday.

Reports are at about 4 am yesterday, loud cracking sounds awakened several residents along Papourie Road, Monkey Town in Barrackpore.

On checking, they observed the wooden and concrete structure engulfed in flames and Baboolal nowhere to be seen. Within minutes, the house was destroyed.

When police and fire officials visited the scene, they found Baboolal’s charred remains in an area which housed a bedroom.

Police said Baboolal, who lived alone, was last seen alive two hours earlier locking some doors.

The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained and investigators believe that he may have been asleep when the fire broke out.

When Newsday visited the scene yesterday, one resident explained that a loud noise awoke her and, at the time, she assumed there was a vehicular accident on the roadway.

“It was only when my daughter went outside, she saw the house on fire,” the resident said.

“Whitey was a nice fella.” Cpl Narine of the Barrackpore Police Station is continuing investigations.

“We want you to enjoy yourselves this carnival, but you also have a responsibility in ensuring that this Carnival continues to be a safe one by protecting yourself,” said Dulalchan in an interview with Newsday yesterday. He added that without the public’s co-operation with the police, they would not have been able to do their jobs so efficiently.

Dulalchan however was concerned about the number of incidents of petty theft occurring in Port of Spain. In his capacity as Gold Commander, he advised that people try their best to make themselves harder targets while enjoying the Carnival festivities.

He advised that citizens not leave their jewellery and valuable items in any open places in their cars, something which may entice criminals to break into the vehicles.

Dulalchan also advised all revellers to use the sober zones located in various parts of Port of Spain whenever possible and have a designated driver if too much alcohol was consumed.

Full Extreme already has a victory, as the winning song of 2017 Panorama champion Massy All Stars which copped its tenth large band title in Saturday’s final at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain.

Massy All Stars human resource manager Stacy-Ann Patrick is predicting a Road March win for Full Extreme and, ultimately MX Prime and the Ultimate Rejects.

“I think Full Extreme embodies a sense of resilience,” Patrick said yesterday.

“Somehow, it speaks to the people of this country that know that unconsciously we have to fight.

Everything could be falling apart but we still have to fight. There are really good songs this year, but I think Full Extreme will take over.

And if they do not win, they are already the kings of the road.” All Stars won over Desperadoes, the 2016 winner, with Leon “Smooth” Edwards’s arrangement of Full Extreme, moving from one point behind Desperadoes in the semi-finals to beating them by three points with a 286 tally.

Patrick said the song seemed to resonate with people of all ages, and that was one of the reasons the band chose to play it.

“At the beginning of the year, Smooth would come and put down a verse and a chorus for one song or another and depending on how people react to it, he would select that song for the band to practice,” said Patrick at Massy All Stars Duke Street, Port-of-Spain panyard. “This year was no different, and he played a verse and a chorus for this song and that, but when he played Full Extreme, he realised that no matter who was around, young or old, they would gravitate toward the song.” It has been six years since Massy All Stars tasted victory. For their last championship win, in 2011, they played Anslem Douglas’ Its Showtime.

Last year they placed sixth.

This visit is the second leg of a cultural exchange with El Conjunto Folkorico Nacional de Cuba with Nicholas Cumberbatch, project co-ordinator, at the helm.

An important objective of this exchange is to contribute to the broadening of understanding between the peoples and development of mutually beneficial relations between the two countries.

The ANSA McAL Group contributed financially to the cultural exchange project between Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago which kicks off on March 5 and is being undertaken by the Success Laventille Secondary School

In her response, the minister noted that the NCC is the body responsible for the conduct of all Carnival activities under the aegis of the Government an in collaboration with key partners in the industry.

She said while the NCC has an existing strategic plan for 2013 to 2017, the recommendations of that plan are being revised for the 2017/2018 fiscal year.

“The long term plan for the Carnival industry remains the objective as identified in the NCC Act: to make Carnival a viable, national, cultural and commercial enterprise,” Gadsby-Dolly stated.