Rasta City member: We’re not interested in gov’t

Despite earlier reports of celebrations after news of the failed anti-gang legislation on Thursday morning in alleged Rasta City strongholds in Beetham and East Port of Spain, there were no such instances, according to one alleged gang member.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the man, who goes by the nickname Short Boss, revealed the gang has no interest in government and did not celebrate using gunfire in any of the reported hotspots, adding the gang and its members are uninterested in the government’s attempts. However he said members of Rasta City’s Beetham chapter were not celebrating.

“It was real cool in the Beetham,“ he said.

”Nobody did anything they weren’t supposed to do, and besides, we not taking on anything government has to say or do because at the end of the day, they are not here to help us.”

He said many youths in the community felt isolated by government’s inability to create programmes aimed at reducing unemployment, which has led to the rise in gang activity. He said government should spend less time trying to arrest members and more time trying to reduce joblessness.

Newsday also spoke to activist and gang-interventionist Imam Morland Lynch who said yesterday there has been no instances of celebration in Enterprise, Chaguanas after news of the legislation’s failed passage was made public. He said even if the bill was implemented, it would have had little impact on gang activities.

“Simply put, the government waited too long. They’ve allowed this cancer of crime and criminality to fester like a sore for too long and now at the eleventh hour, they are trying to put things in place. There’s nothing they or anyone can do at this point.”