BAGHDAD IN LAVENTILLE

The planned introduction of tough police/army measures in Laventille to deal with the troubling upsurge in crime that has seen a horrific rise in the number of murders, many of them drug/gang related should result, if successful, in making the area relatively safe to live in again.

We can only imagine how the law abiding people of Laventille must look forward to the coming of that day, when the police/army move in — to quote ACP Crime Oswyn Allard — with “Baghdad like” force to deal with the criminals. But not only Laventille, but the downtown areas of Port-of-Spain, for example Nelson and Piccadilly Streets, which have had spillover effects, should be effectively patrolled. The anti- crime strategy to be worked out and pursued by the top brass of the police service in conjunction with the army should not be rooted in action and reaction, but rather should see the setting up of command posts in Laventille and environs which would enable them to deal quickly with problems that may arise. The combined police/army forces must be in a position to effect rapid response to calls for help by residents as well as to calls alerting security personnel of crimes in progress, and of a suspicious build up of known lawbreakers even though the callers may not be directly threatened.

There should be a mininal difference in time between the report of the committing or perceived threatened committing of a crime, and the ability to have a police/army presence at the trouble spot. Merely to have the police and soldiers, who may be assigned to Laventille, drive by in Police and/or Regiment cars and jeeps clearly cannot be enough. If this passive method is adopted it would be fairly easy for the criminals to note the movements and locations of the protective forces and simply work around them. At no time should the authorities underestimate the criminal. But while tough measures are necessary, Government, at the same time, will have to move with despatch to tackle the social problems that have bedevilled Laventille and its environs for decades. Short term as well as medium and long term measures need to be drawn up which will generate employment in the troubled areas through both private and public sector participation.

It should not be left to the Government to start more and more “make-work” programmes but for the private sector to recognise the skills that exist and to come up with ideas for truly productive employment. At the same time, Government should seriously consider the establishing of a training centre in Laventille to assist in the provision of marketable skills largely for the residents. It has been said, time and again, that many of the young Laventilleans experience a sense of frustration at not being able to gain regular employment. And there are many other areas in the country where the same thing applies. This is not aimed at mollycoddling people but the crucial recognition that the critical problems are, along with those of crime, a lack of jobs and training to access jobs in the open market, wherever they present themselves, and a feeling of low self esteem. The issue has to be tackled on several fronts but first the police/army must move on the criminals so that once again the people may be free to live and earn.