Oropune Gardens still seeks peace, gang activity continues
Apartment buildings in the area of Oropune Gardens known as China Town. - Photo by Roger Jacob
OROPUNE GARDENS is still struggling to find peace. There are areas in the east Trinidad residential community that continue to grapple with crime, although some parts are reporting a turnaround.
In 2019, Sunday Newsday reported on the crime surge that had been highlighted by former journalist Colleen Holder.
Since then, the community came together and working with the Police Youth Club crime went down. Except in one spot – a place that s now known as China Town. It s on the north western end of the community, nearest to the Churchill Roosevelt Highway.
SHOT DEAD: Antonio Francois. -
THE MOTHER of a murdered teenager, Nicole Brathwaite, said her son, Antonio Francois, wanted to be a police officer, then later in life, a singer.
Francois was killed, along with his friend Semion Daniel, both 15, on Sunday night. Their bodies were found on the roof of an abandoned house in Mc Shine Lands, Laventille, after neighbours reported hearing gunshots.
The two were among five teenagers who escaped from the care of the Children s Authority in mid-March by squeezing through the burglarproofing of a home in north Trinidad
Two of the children are still on the run and a third was found after the double killing.
Masonic charity donates $10,000 to Princess Elizabeth Home
Tuesday 2 March 2021
President of the Princess Elizabeth Home for Handicapped Children Doctor Calvin Inalsingh, left, and CEO Jan Sirjusing hold up a donation received from Freemasons of TT members Rajendra Bhagwat, second from right, and Gerald Mendes at the home on Ariapita Avenue, last Friday. - Ayanna Kinsale
The Princess Elizabeth Home for Handicapped Children received a $10,000 donation from the Freemasons of TT, Scottish constitution, Masonic charitable organisation.
The cheque was handed over to the home’s CEO Jan Sirjusingh and President Dr Calvin Inalsingh on Friday.
The donation will be directed to the construction of an orthopaedic wing on the property.
7 more stations to be repurposed in modern policing plan
Sunday 21 February 2021
Moriah Police Station in Tobago is to be used as a medical facility for officers to get basic medical attention. PHOTO BY AYANNA KINSALE -
SEVEN more police stations will be repurposed as the police seek to cut back on costs as they currently owe suppliers $182 million as at the end of January.
In an e-mailed response to Sunday Newsday, the police said some of the seven stations will not be repurposed this fiscal year. The seven are Mayaro; Four Roads (Diego Martin), both to be transformed into virtual courts; Cap-deVille Police Station (Point Fortin) will be used to accommodate the municipal police as a base and will be working along with police officers; San Juan sub-station will become the Traffic Investigations Unit to provide assistance with traffic management in the division; the St Madeleine and St Margaret’s police stations (San Fernando) will house homicide and Fraud Squad and the Gende
Alphanso Spencer, UP Unity & Peace Community Coordinator, wants to increase attendance in online classes from 12 to 15 young people to 25.
Two community-based organisations (CBOs) in the UP Unity & Peace programme, coordinated by Fight for Peace, have received grants to help their communities in the current harsh economic climate amid the coronavirus pandemic. Funding for the community grants was provided by the Inter-American Foundation (IAF).
Specifically, the funding aims to strengthen community-based organisations’ ability to design and implement collaborative programmes to help community members in the long term. It also aims to ensure that the voices of women and young people are included in the process.