Baghdad at Laventille

THE POLICE, assisted by the Army, are set to launch a "Baghdad-type" invasion of the Laventille area which has become a virtual killing field for rival gangs and their armed assassins. Newsday has been told that the Police have "several packs of cards" identifying the criminals involved in the spate of murders which has taken place in Laventille, Sea Lots, Belmont and Beetham Estate, and the purpose of the operation is to flush them out. Again, the country will be hoping that this fresh initiative by the Police will serve its intended purpose and that the rising tide of cold-blooded murders in these areas will be drastically reduced or halted altogether.

Although the Police have not given any details about their planned invasion, we expect that it will entail, among other things, a round-the-clock surveillance, in terms of patrols, in the Laventille area and a systematic search for those whom the Police have identified as responsible for the series of gang-related killings. As an indication of their determination to bring peace and order back to Laventille, the Police, we understand, have asked the government to implement a limited state of emergency or curfew in the area to facilitate their operation. This, of course, is an extreme measure that may well impose some inconvenience on the residents of Laventille but, in our view, it is a price they should be willing to pay if it would help to curb the terror of murderous gun-play by gang members in their neighbourhood. The people of Laventille, most of whom are honest and law-abiding citizens, deserve to live in a peaceful environment, free of the kind of armed violence that erupts regularly within their vicinity and leaves bullet-ridden bodies in homes and on the streets.

The planned Police-Army "invasion" will need their support, especially in terms of the intelligence and evidence they may be able to provide. If they want to rid their district of this menace, they must be prepared to cooperate, not clam up in an "oath of secrecy". When 25-year-old Kevin Alexander was gunned down at his home on Rudolph Charles Link Road on Sunday night, he became the year's 74th muder victim, a large number of these murders having been committed in Laventille. What puzzles us about the rising level of such gang-related assassinations is the claim by the Police to know who the perpetrators behind them are. Why are these men not being hunted down? Are any of them, at least, under surveillance? Why is there no Police breakthrough if the killers are known? What we suspected some time ago is now being confirmed by senior police officers who seem to believe that most of the murders in the Laventille area are related to jobs on NHA, URP and CEPEP schemes. The feeling is that several gangs are operating within these make-work programmes and are fighting for control and leadership.

Clearly this must be an area for thorough investigation by the Police. It is surprising to learn that two former Flying Squad members assigned to the programmes as a means of helping the Police obtain information had to curtail their mission when persons engaged in the schemes raised objections. Who exactly are running these projects, a lawless breed or government appointed officials? The country is becoming ever more anxious and fearful about this rising tide of violent crime not only for individual citizens but also for the long-term stability of the society. Where will it all end? Will gang-style killings become a permanent feature of life in Trinidad and Tobago? Why, in a small country such as ours, this kind of brutal and murderous rivalry can become so rampant, with the authorities seemingly incapable of stopping it? Will the Laventille "invasion" have any effect? We must wait and see.