The Community Recovery Committee (CRC) set up in 2020 to examine the problems in east Port-of-Spain has been disbanded after handing in its report to the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service last year.
Anthony Watkins, who chaired the CRC, told the Sunday Guardian that the committee submitted its report in May 2021. The terms of the committee were extended by Cabinet and came to an end in January 2022.
The CRC was established in July 2020 by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley following fiery protests in east Port-of-Spain, which renewed debate about the area’s perpetual underdevelopment. The committee was tasked with developing and implementing "sustainable working solutions" that address issues affecting at-risk communities.
Watkins and the team focused on communities that have been stereotyped and marginalised, from Charlotte Street in the west to communities north of the Lady Young Road, Morvant, such as Never Dirty and Mon Repos. It also dealt with communities east of the Lady Young Road, such as Coconut Drive and Second Caledonia, as well as Sea Lots, Beetham Estate and all of east Port-of- Spain.
In March 2021, Watkins told the Sunday Guardian that some initiatives of the CRC included skills development, infrastructure development, developing human resources of the communities there and fostering self of pride.
Reflecting on the CRC's work, some community activists said that they received help in raising funds, received computer tablets and help with online courses, but not much else has been done to provide jobs or infrastructure development.
Football coach and community activist Jamaal Shabazz said that any organization set up to assist in east Port-of-Spain’s development cannot solve the area’s decades-old problems overnight.
Shabazz was one of the original members of the CRC when it was set up in 2020.
"Can a magic wand fix the problems of poor parenting, failure to think and make proper decisions?" he asked as he responded to the Sunday Guardian last week from Guyana.
Shabazz believes that politicians can do more to help underdeveloped communities, but at the same time, taking personal responsibility is just as important.
"It is one thing to blame politicians because I think, yes, they can do more to create opportunities for economic and social upliftment. The State resources must filter down to help Eric Williams' children to emulate Mr Sabga's children and Sat Maharaj in establishing economic stability.
"Eric Williams' children did not end up in this condition because we dunce and lazy. So yes, the party that we supported all our lives must do something to create an opportunity for us to pull ourselves out of this wretched condition."
He also questioned if parents and those with leadership responsibilities in these communities are spending their resources wisely.
"Should we buy the weave, the eyelashes, the mini skirt and next week no money to send the children to school? Why do we have so many child fathers and child mothers in the hood and not husbands and wives? Why do these child fathers give hell to support their children? Why are our kids becoming gangsters, and how much responsibility has these young men taken for their actions?"
He also urged leaders and the communities to work together to come up with solutions to the pressing problems that exist.
"It is the collective will and the spirit in which we approach the problem that will help us bring about solutions and eventually, with the help of the Almighty God, change our conditions."
Youth Development and National Service Minister Foster Cummings.
ANISTO ALVES
'We don't know what came out of the work the committee did'
President of the Community Council in Sea Lots Sherma Anne Le Blanc told the Sunday Guardian that she has not seen any lasting impact of the CRC’s work in the community. In fact, she said she has not even seen the report that was submitted to Cabinet.
"We have not even seen the documents to know what came out of the work the committee did. Even if they said they did this or that, nothing has really been implemented.
"Yes, there has been some form of communication, and they asked us to voice our opinions, but apart from consultation, there has been no sort of economic or social change."
She said that the only thing the CRC did was to facilitate a pre-school in Sea Lots getting over 20 computer tablets in 2020.
"The Ministry of Education was involved in an adopt-a-school programme, and they facilitated children getting tablets. The CRC got someone to adopt our school in Sea Lots to get the tablets. Apart from that, they sponsored a fundraiser. Nothing else really.”
Le Blanc lamented that although they received a little help, it does nothing to transform the underlying causes of the area’s underdevelopment.
"When the CRC came to us, we spoke about the ills in Sea Lots. We spoke about the discrimination we suffer. We don’t have the proper infrastructure here. We have a community centre here, but it is not outfitted and so it disqualifies us from certain programmes."
She added that the politicians do not communicate nor do they consult with the people of the area.
"We have come out of the pandemic and nobody has come to us saying that this is what the community should start based on recommendations for the CRC. Nobody has said anything. Nothing has been done."
An activist in the Beverly Hills area in Laventille Judith Boyce said that not much has changed since the CRC was set up.
"I was part of the ‘We Say Yes’ programme, which was an initiative of the CRC which helps young people do online education programmes. That is a great programme for the children of Beverly Hills. I’ve seen a lot of success in the programme. Every Saturday afternoon the kids go online and learn about gardening, culinary art and other topics."
Boyce said that the community has many needs, and more needs to be done.
"We need more programmes, we need more jobs for the youths. There are many youths who are out there, and they are not doing anything. I would like to see more youths employed. Over the last two years since the CRC was set up, the situation really did not get worse, but it did not get better either."
Sunday Guardian called and WhatApped Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings several times on the issue but he did not respond.