[UPDATED] DECADE OF DEATH

JULIEN NEAVES

MORE than 1,300 people have been murdered in Laventille in the past decade, reported Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds.

He was speaking yesterday at a public meeting at the St Barb’s Basketball Court, Laventille.

He said statistics from the police Crime and Problem Analysis unit showed that from 2008 to today 1,318 brothers and sisters in Laventille had been murdered. He said, of that figure, 1,232, or 93.47 per cent, were with guns, 43 were with sharp instruments and 26 blunt force. The highest figure was 192 in 2008.

Hinds said the figures did not include woundings and shooting and he pointed there were many young men in Laventille in wheelchairs because a bullet hit their spine and they could not walk.

“We have a crisis in Laventille. Because you know better than me that tomorrow, this evening, your children are at risk. They could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And you know you too are at risk. Because if you only provoke somebody now, tell them something, watch them too hard, bounce them as you passing by the shop, they want to go for their ‘lass, they want to go for their gun. That is the level of ignorance.”

He noted the murders of 16-year-old Akil Phillips in Laventille in April and the recent murder of 16-year-old Jamal Charles a few days ago. He recalled about six years ago at a function he met a woman, who would go on to be a close friend, who had lost two sons to violence and was worried about her other sons.

“Every woman in Laventille walks in that fear.”

He said children had to know which street to walk on and which area to go because of “something stupid called borderline.” Hinds recalled when he was a boy he could walk through Laventille without the fear of being killed.

“Now our children have to deal with that on a daily basis.”

Hinds said he says children in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon in war zones but he did not expect to see that in Laventille.

“This is no war zone.”

He stressed wars aere fought for political and philosophical issues or land but in Laventille it was mayhem, madness and stupidity that was causing a lot of pain.

“This thing got to stop and we got to stop it.”

He said the crime in Laventille did not start in one night and would not be fixed in a night.

“But we not asking no police to fix this; that is empty and futile. They have a role and they will play it. We not asking no government to fix this; government has a role to play and the government must play it. It is we that have to deal with this from inside of us.”

Hinds said people in Laventille lacked for nothing and there were 21 primary schools and four secondary schools, the latter number unprecedented for such a small space. He also said there were health centres all over Laventille, clean water and electricity, and the children have access to schools like Fatima and St Anthony’s and the University of the West Indies via the Priority Bus Route.

“There is nothing to stop a child from Laventille. We don’t lack nothing (sic). All we have is some bad behaviour from some of us which if we fix nothing could stop us as a people in Laventille.”

He pointed out attendees at the meeting including various NGOs, the business community, religious community, various sporting organisations, community elders, the CEPEP team and the Hearts and Minds Unit of the Inter-Agency Task Force “because they realise that guns and bullets and tear gas and baton and lock-up and jail is important, but it is not sufficient because there are other issues.” He said the purpose of the meeting was to seek ideas from the community on how to fix Laventille.

“He who fixes Laventille, fixed TT.”

This story was originally published with the title "More than 1,300 murdered in Laventille in 10 years" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

MORE than 1,300 people have been murdered in Laventille in the past decade, reported Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds.

He was speaking today (TUESDAY) at a public meeting at the St Barb's Basketball Court, Laventille.

He said statistics from the police Crime and Problem Analysis unit showed that from 2008 to today 1,318 "brothers and sisters" in Laventille have been murdered. He reported of that figure 1,232, or 93,47 per cent, were killed with guns, 43 were with sharp instruments and 26 with blunt force. The highest figure in a single year was 192 in 2008.

He recalled five years ago at a function he met a woman, who would go on to be a close friend, who had lost two sons to violence and was worried about her other sons.

"Every woman in Laventille walks in that fear," he said.

Children have to know which street to walk on and which area to go to because of "something stupid called borderline." Hinds recalled when he was a boy he could walk through Laventille without the fear of being killed.

"Now our children have to deal with that on a daily basis."

Hinds said he sees children in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon in war zones but did not expect to see this in Laventille.

"This is no war zone."

He stressed wars are fought for political and philosophical issues or land, but in Laventille it is mayhem, madness and stupidity that cause a lot of pain.

"This thing got to stop, and we got to stop it."

While the police and government have their roles to play and will play them, it is up to the community to fix it, he urged.

"We want to fix Laventille. He who fixes Laventille fixes TT."