Society’s failures causing crime

CRIMINALS ARE  a product of their environment, according to Eugene Tiah, President of Phoenix Park Gas Processing Ltd. Speaking at a sod-turning ceremony for the Casa de Corazon Children’s Home in Sangre Grande on Tuesday, Tiah blamed the country’s crime situation on “what we as a society did or failed to do.” He noted that crime is currently claiming over 200 lives a year, closely rivalling the lives lost in road accidents. Tiah said he was certain that among the country’s hardened criminals there is a common thread of abuse, neglect, lack of opportunity during childhood or any combination of those.

He asked: “Do we want the spiralling crime situation that we currently have today to be the future for our children and theirs?” He said the Home was born out of a need to provide a safe nurturing environment for displaced abused and orphaned children. He said he was confident that the institution could become a model facility addressing the needs of abused and neglected children in Trinidad and Tobago. Tiah said the major challenge for the facility is securing Government support to ensure that the new building is completed by mid-year to service the needs of Sangre Grande and environs. He said the Home is in need of financial and technical support. He said he was confident that the Government, which has openly stated its support for social interventions, will offer support to the Home.