Oropune Gardens no longer peaceful place

THE EDITOR: It is so disheartening to see how politicians, probably for political expediency, have destroyed the housing development called Oropune Gardens.

When I moved there with my family in 2006, the community was so quiet that we had some challenges in locating it. At the time, we felt so fortunate when we realised this piece of real estate was within walking distance of Trincity Mall, Piarco International Airport, one of the leading hardwares in the country, and an international hotel. The community was quiet and peaceful.

Today, there is major development of the land off the east-bound lane of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway (CRH) just opposite Oropune Gardens.

But gradually, like a bad dream, the Government, through the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), began to send victims of fires and floods from east Port of Spain to Oropune.

Nothing is wrong with that, but some of these individuals brought with them the life that they are accustomed to. The next thing we knew was that certain parts of Oropune were being referred to as “China Town” and “Trou Macaque.” Shortly afterwards the murders began.

The HDC seems to hold the view that because Oropune Gardens is flooded (pardon the pun) with members of the they should be able to deal with the criminal activity in the community.

This is easier said than done as most of these members simply do not have the time due to their working hours. Further, these police, soldiers, prison officers etc must leave their families at home for many hours while on the job, making them vulnerable to the very criminal elements the protective services members would be challenging in Oropune.

I salute Colleen Holder on her valiant efforts, a resident of Oropune who has been the victim of crime at her home on at least two occasions. However, it is unfortunate that it had to take pressure from the media to force the HDC to begin to act.

ROGER MOHAMMED

via e-mail