Residents say neglect fuelling gang recruitment in Laventille
‘They leave us like stray dogs’
The moss-covered staircases lead to abandoned apartments littered with rubbish. Bullet holes scar concrete walls. A dead animal lies inside one vacant Housing Development Corporation (HDC) unit. Instead, they questioned why some communities have waited decades for basic improvements while criminal groups have stepped into the spaces left by failing institutions. For them, the conversation about gangs cannot begin with crime alone. It must also confront the conditions they say have left generations of young people searching for dignity, belonging and opportunity.
For many, they are also part of the answer to a question that has long dominated public discussion: Why do some young people join gangs? “Them leave us like stray dogs—who eat, eat. Who fight, fight. Who die, die. Dah is how it is.” The resident, who requested anonymity, said years of neglect have left people feeling abandoned by those in authority. Questions were sent to Port-of-Spain South MP Keith Scotland and HDC Chairman Feeroz Khan. Neither of them responded up until the time of publication.
My post has been cut short by administrators...Why?
Cant we post 3 paragraphs any more ?