Barrackpore calls for CEPEP

There are too many youths without jobs in the Barrackpore area and while the government is providing temporary employment for many in other areas through CEPEP, the youths of southern communities are left without jobs. So says Akash Ragoonanan, president of the Barrackpore Youth Action Innovators (BYAI). Ragoonanan was at the time addressing members of BYAI at the Barrackpore Community Complex last Thursday evening. “One just have to drive through the Lower Barrackpore areas and see how many youths are ‘liming’ into the wee hours of the morning. And it was during the lead to the last local government elections that the politicians vowed to provide employment for everyone in the country. I want to know if Barrackpore is not on the map of Trinidad and Tobago,” an angry Ragoonanan said. Residents of Manohar Street complained about the loud noise in the streets as many of the youths party with heavy music on a nightly basis. Speaking on behalf of the residents, Ragoonanan is calling on the authorities to do something about the unemployment problem now. Members of BYAI have been involved in doing many community projects, including the Prime Minister’s Best Village Trophy competition, Academics courses in Maths, Physic and English Literature free of charge to the youths of the area.

Ragoonanan complimented the PenalDebe Regional Corporation for curbing the flooding situation in Barrackpore. He noted that it was after Newsday’s report on the floods that work started on the low-lying areas. A student who is now home on summer vacation, Shezida Ali, 16, blames the lack of attention the youths have gotten from the leaders of the village. The doors of the Community Complex remain closed most of the time. We cannot gain access to the basket ball court or anything else,” she added. The BYAI has since written to the Ministry of Community Development requesting educational trade classes, such as cooking classes, sewing, and welding.