Maraj opens new facility for Couva youth

A COMMUNITY-ORIENTED facility has been commissioned in the Couva District at 11 Camden Road, by Ralph Maraj, Co-ordinator at the Ministry of Public Administration, on Friday morning.

The ceremony, which was attended by high-profile police officers of the Central Division, members of the Couva Lions Club, as well as Scouts officials in Couva, will see the old Government quarters being used by three groups — the Couva Boys Scouts Council, the Police Youth Club, and the Couva Lions Club. Maraj told the gathering that “the Ministry of Public Administration is very pleased to have made these premises available to you and is even more delighted that you are going to put it to such good use.” The renovation work on the building is estimated to cost $256,947,00, and will be chaired by the three Groups under the umbrella of the PSL, according to Desmond Baxter, who chaired the function. Continuing his address, Maraj was strong in his belief that “this new facility will provide opportunities for the young people of the area to be involved in community projects and other meaningful and creative activities.”

Maraj noted that the “collaboration between the police and the community is a wonderful example for other groups to follow as it is one way of dealing with the problem of juvenile delinquency, which, if left unchecked, leads to greater problems and often tragedy.” He lamented the fact that  “modernisation has been largely responsible for the decline of community life throughout the world and now we need to return to this bedrock of civilised living, if the world is to become a better place for all humanity.” Maraj felt that “there is so much that needs to be done in Trinidad and Tobago and we all seem to be waiting on somebody else to do it. “It is very important that we all contribute to making a living and a beautiful environment and to contribute to the overall development of our neighbourhood as when we create beauty we become refined in mind and body,” Maraj said. Maraj ended, “we must, therefore, enrich the minds of our young people.”