‘We want jobs!’

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Community activists from the Scrap Iron Dealers Association, La Brea Action Group (LBAG) and the La Brea Board of Trade and Industry say they will be mobilising a march and rally soon to force the government to address unemployment and rising food prices.

Speaking at a press conference held at La Brea on Wednesday, TTSIDA’s president Allan Ferguson said some people were so frustrated that they felt their only hope was to resort to crime.

“People in Laventille, La Brea, La Romaine, the communities where African people live, there is no other community that suffers like us. Our brothers and sisters have no hope, so the only hope for them is crime. They think in their head that crime is their only hope because they are not right in their head. The playing field is not level,” Ferguson said.

He called on the government to start investing in projects in depressed communities.

“If you put a show factory in this area and let the people work and pay for it, it will make a change. If we do different in Laventille and do different in other communities, it will make a change. The police will hardly have work to do. By trying to assist the communities people will stay away from crime.”

He also had this ultimatum for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

“We will make a decision soon to probably have a march or a rally. We start the mobilisation already. If the Prime Minister or whoever he chooses to meet us, we will assist them and start the effort to make the changes, we will hold off (on the march) but if nothing is done and no effort is made to see our African brothers and sisters do better we will mobilise,” Ferguson said.

President of the LBAG Shawn Edmund also called for a meeting with the Prime Minister.

“When elections took place, the government promised us a lot of jobs in the La Brea Industrial Estate, for example, the La Brea drydocks and development of the Point Dor area. They say they will give us jobs but they did not stand up to their word,” Edmund said.

He added, “We have been neglected for too long but we will make a stand to get what we deserve. The La Brea drydock was supposed to be constructed. We are fed up with promises, nothing is happening in La Brea.”

He noted that it was time for people to stand up to the government.

Meanwhile, Lavaugh Wharton, a member of La Brea Board of Trade and Industry Limited said there were 142 indigenous businesses in La Brea some of which were registered and STOW (Safe to Work) certified.

“We have been training our small, medium and large businesses to do training for proper tendering. We are saying give us our fair share. We need to get work. How can we eat if we don’t get work? We need sustainable things. We are not asking for a handout,” she added.