JOEL JULIEN
Hundreds of specially invited guests stayed away from an event in Laventille on Saturday, in which Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was the feature speaker, because they were afraid of rising crime in that area. The event titled Laventille 123: A Different Me was held at Sogren Trace Recreational Ground.
The event was held to celebrate the success of three steelbands from the Laventille area in this year’s Panorama competition. Desperadoes placed first in the large band competition in Panorama while Sound Specialists placed second in the small band and Serenades placed third in the medium-sized band competition.
Minister of Works and Transport Fitzgerald Hinds, who is MP for Laventille West, said the event was meant to unify Laventille, starting with the pansides.
“We decided that we would make use of this great victory for a number of potential reasons. We decided to bring these three bands together disregarding the stupidity and the emptiness and the ignorance of borderlines,” Hinds said.
“We know that when we do that, the youngsters in all Laventille will look on at you in the spirit of pride and celebration at your victory and they would take example from you that you could gather here in the same place, in the same space, with the same T-shirts, with the same logo, for the same purpose and that you have done that hoping it would be a beacon of light and an outstanding example to all those who rather than build and unite us may in their ignorance divide us and cause us pain. We decided that we must build this unity,” he said.
Guests from the three steelbands wore black T-shirts with the Laventille 123 logo which features a steelpan. But while there was a decent turnout, a significant portion of the chairs remained empty. A pile of chairs were also left under a tent. Kern John, the captain of the Sound Specialists, gave a reason for this as he addressed the crowd.
“There are many people who got invited and they did not come here tonight because they are afraid, but I trust and I sincerely believe that when they see the event they are going to be sorry that they were not here to celebrate with us,” he said.
Rowley promised that the Government would help rebuild Laventille. He said there are “a small number of Laventille people who make life difficult for others.”
“Today there are places in Laventille where the delivery truck does not want to go. I was hearing last week there were some people in Laventille who cannot get gas (cylinders) because the gas truck does not want to go up the hill because of the behaviour of some young people in the area,” Rowley said.
“If as I am told there are schools in the area which are under-populated because parents are no longer trusting the system and are taking their children out of the area and putting them in schools elsewhere, the Government has a duty to come back in the community and make your school a school that would attract the community,” he said.
Saturday’s event was originally carded to begin around 5.30 pm. However, at that time security officials were making a search of the area with sniffer dogs. The event eventually began at 6.30 pm. Former calypso monarchs Roderick “Chuck” Gordon and Karene Asche as well as soca artiste Akile “5 star Akile” Borneo were among those who entertained the crowd.