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Gyasi Mer­rique

Trinidad and To­ba­go ush­ered in the New Year un­der a cloud of un­cer­tain­ty yes­ter­day, as the gov­ern­ment’s No­vem­ber 2 de­ci­sion to ex­tend the State of Emer­gency (SoE) for an ad­di­tion­al three months cast a shad­ow over the up­com­ing Car­ni­val sea­son.

De­spite lin­ger­ing ten­sions and ques­tions over na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty, the mood at the year’s first of­fi­cial fête – Day One, host­ed by Il­lu­sions Mas at Ho­tel Nor­mandie, St Ann’s – was one of un­abashed cel­e­bra­tion.