For many years, the La Puerta community in Diego Martin has carried a reputation as a crime hotspot. Intermittent gang wars and several murders in the area since 2013 did little to help arguments rejecting the unwanted label.
However, following the October 2021 murder of Junior Daniel, the area went 22 months without a reported murder, indicating a change for the better. That ended earlier this week when police shot dead a resident, Josiah Soleyn, during a confrontation.
Reports indicated that Soleyn was wanted in connection with firearm-related offences and police were attempting to arrest him. They claimed he opened fire on them and they returned fire.
Following the killing, Sunday Guardian visited La Puerta to get a sense of what crime, gang activity and unemployment levels are like.
Residents–from young men on the block to the elderly–all believed that there were many “lost youth” in the area falling into crime as they struggle to find jobs and facilities to engage in sporting activities.
“Months ago, every so often you heard some gunshots. They killed a fella right in the yard where I am living. I intend to move out. But I have people looking out for me. So I’m hoping for the best,” an elderly man who moved to the area four years ago said.
“Parenting is a serious problem. Long ago, in my days, when you were growing up, they would tell you to learn a trade. But it have no programmes right now to put youth in that. Half of them don’t have academic knowledge either,” lamented Vaughn, another elder who did not want to be named.
He felt a workshop for them “to learn a little trade or something” in the area would leave them better off.
Vaughn’s sister, Maria (name change to protect her identity), who moved to the area three years ago, believes that the decimation of sporting activities in the community has closed a pathway for youth in the area to unite and elevate themselves.
“Sports help. The old stadium they had, the Northern Savannah, was like a village back then. You would find people coming from all over to play sports. You don’t have that anymore. If it has more access to sports it would be good for the community. It would be one love,” Maria said.
“We need more things to pull people together. You see what is going on in society, they have no parents guiding them, so it is harder for the youth to focus on doing something on their own. They end up choosing what they want to do, but they are not living long.”
Residents walk along La Puerta Avenue, Diego Martin, on Friday.
SHIRLEY BAHADUR
Young men speak out
Two young men–Raheem and Jason (name changed)–who were by a fruit stall lower down the road, spoke openly, honestly and passionately about issues facing the area’s youth.
Raheem, who is in his early 30s, is unemployed and does odd jobs, while Jason, who is in his late 20s, works in communications.
As they spoke, two other young men–no older than 21–looked on curiously from a distance, seemingly interested in the conversation.
“It had a shooting just Monday. They kill a youth man up the top on Monday…The youth and them in a lot of houses where they don’t have any motivation. Real parents just leave their children to get big. Real parents are neglecting their children,” Raheem said.
“The youth and them going astray because of bad leadership. The elders running communities. The elders have to play their part too.”
Jason saw it differently. He believes that youth are falling into lives of crime because the ‘system’ was designed to make that happen.
Raheem rejected his view, saying everyone has a choice and is responsible for their actions.
“We have a choice, but when I watch it, the people on the top design it that way. If your head is not strong, you are going to fall into that hole. And the time you fall into that hole, it’s either you thief, rob, kill, steal–something wrong. You just continue doing something wrong. Your mind has to be strong at these times,” Jason said.
“No matter what the Government says about this or that with crime, at the end of the day, crime fattens plenty of their pockets. That have them driving all that nice cars that they drive. The jail system is one of the healthiest businesses in Trinidad. All kinds of things. Real money is being made in that jail. You know how much men go to jail and come out with plenty of money?” Raheem added.
According to both men, while job opportunities for youth in the area have been scarce for many years, the situation is worse than ever before. They pleaded for help to find jobs.
They said without connections, most have to settle for low-paying jobs like working at the grocery, for example.
They believe that the arrival of migrant workers, mainly from Venezuela and China, cheapened labour, creating an environment ripe for exploitation.
“It’s employment that you can’t get any kind of improvement. Dead-end jobs. Right around the neighbourhood, there are things to do, but there is no work in the neighbourhood, so much less outside. That’s how I know there is no work. This neighbourhood has one of the biggest members of the PNM party, and look what is going on in La Puerta,” Jason lamented, shaking his head.
“And even though you may have a job, you are working every day, every day, and things raising. Pay not raising and when it’s time for us to go back to work, the money that we have is just to go back to work … You can’t even buy a little pizza or something,” he added.
Raheem said in the absence of opportunities, people do what they have to do to survive to put food on the table.
He knows first-hand how difficult it is as a parent to make ends meet.
“There are people with three to four children. I have one. I am telling you things does be difficult to support my child. At the end of the day, it is even hard to scrape up the money to even get a haircut. A trim now is $80/$90,” Raheem said.
He admitted that some youth in the area turn to selling drugs to put some money in their pockets.
“At the end of the day, those who do not need to do it might watch it as a bad thing, but plenty of people rather sell drugs than kill or thief because they know for sure they are supplying. After all, there’s a need, because people need their high,” he said.
Pleading for help
The young men called on religious leaders and politicians to get into the community and make a difference. They said the only way to save these young men from criminality is by going into their homes, listening to their concerns and working with them.
“Real houses have problems that, in turn, make youth have problems. Crime starts at home. They are just leaving them to grow among peers who have no direction. The Government has to help. What are they collecting all this money from people to do? Use back the money in the neighbourhoods,” one youth said.
“They use the money to build places like NAPA and SAPA–things that ain’t make sense. Ask around the neighbourhoods in Trinidad–Laventille, Beetham, San Juan, Tunapuna, Curepe, Sangre Grande, Arima, Talparo–ask anybody who gets a contract or a day’s work to work on any of the projects. And it’s billions spent on those places, none of us got a day’s work.”
The youth in the area said another avenue that could promote change was rebuilding sports in the community.
They said they’ve seen too many talented sportsmen over the years end up dead or lost on the streets.
“There are plenty of youth good at cricket, football and netball. Sports in Trinidad gone through. In America, one of the easiest ways to make it out of the ghetto in America is a sport. The sports system in La Puerta has broken down. We don’t even have a court. The community centre had a basketball court, but they break it down. They put a new community centre with a theatre hall with a set of rooms. That is a waste of money, waste.
“The only time you see politicians up here is around election time. Come up with their fake smile and try to bribe you with all kinds of stupid things that people around here take chain up for patching holes. The neighbourhood doesn’t need any holes to patch. We need houses to fix. We need minds to shape. There are plenty of people losing their children out here–innocent. They are falling victim to things that they don’t even have no part to play in. Government has to take part. They have to try and get in the heads of some of these parents. Elders rock back too. Elders leave the youth to control the place,” Raheem said.
In October 2022, four residents of La Puerta–including three-year-old Nazim Owen–were killed in a drive-by shooting in a vehicle along the Diego Martin Main Road.
In October 2021, Josiah Soleyn was killed following a confrontation with a group of men attending the wake of a gang leader from the area.
In August 2018, two men posing as police officers shot David Charles and Kurt Smith near their homes.
In 2016, brothers Joshua and Jerome Johnson were ambushed and killed.
In 2013, 31-year-old Marvin Harewood and his 25-year-old girlfriend were shot dead at their Riverside Drive home after returning home from a party.
Councillor to respond Monday
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, the MP for the Diego Martin West, where La Puerta falls, did not respond to calls and a WhatsApp message to his phone. The secretary of the councillor for Glencoe/Goodwood/La Puerta Amber Caines said the councillor will be able to respond to questions first thing on Monday morning.