Once again, or is it yet again, Laventille is to be heavily policed in the wake of the lives of two school boys being snuffed out. The new government has been criticised for not doing enough to quell crime. The redeployment of combined police and army units will have to be viewed as urgent medicine for a sore that was acerbated when the Special Anti-Crime Unit, SAUTT, was unfortunately disbanded for selfish political reasons. Today, the pockets of dysfunctional behaviour are occurring in several so-called hot spots but Laventille bears the reputation, always, as being the hottest. Theirs is the greater stigma.
The lives of all citizens, regardless of race, creed, political persuasion or physical location, they matter. No human life is more precious than the other. When gang members decide that it is expedient to practice a form of genocide against each other, there is a wake up call for citizens affected. They need to assist themselves and the Government in curbing these small-minded, selfish, senseless acts of murder. The worrying thing is that politically unhappy people, via the social media, appear to want to tarnish the country in the eyes of the world. This is a new form of attempted political murder. There is a recession at hand and tourism is one of the means of attracting much needed revenue. Which visitor would wish to be caught up in dangerous manipulated internal negative behaviours?
The people of T&T and of Laventille in particular, need to acknowledge and prove to everyone that yes indeed, all lives matter.
Lynette Joseph
Via email