Violence

[Djedi Maaur]

The Caribbean

Sun, sea and murder
Jan 31st 2008 | PORT OF SPAIN
From The Economist print edition


Here, too, drug-trafficking is to blame

ELEVEN people, including five children, were shot dead in Guyana last weekend when unidentified gunmen went on the rampage in the village of Lusignan. A couple clung to their 11-year-old grand-daughter as bullets were pumped into them; a little boy clutched his mother's night-dress as she tried to crawl under her bed. Furious villagers later set up barricades, demanding protection and justice.

Police suspect it was the work of a gang acting on the orders of Rondell “Fineman” Rawlins, Guyana's most wanted man with a $150,000 bounty on his head. He is said to blame the government for the disappearance eight days earlier of his pregnant girlfriend, on her way to the nearby capital of Georgetown to give birth. But racial hatred provided the target. Like Guyana's government and half the population, Lusignan is mostly ethnic Indian, while Rawlins and his gang are ethnic Africans.

Many of Guyana's neighbours suffer even worse violence. Indeed, the Caribbean, better known for its blue skies, cricket and rum punch, is the world leader in violent crime. According to a joint UN-World Bank study last year, it has a murder rate of 30 per 100,000 inhabitants—four times the North American figure and 15 times the West/Central European average.

Jamaica is the world's most murderous country, followed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela. But some smaller Caribbean islands are catching up fast, irrespective of size or wealth. Pretty little St Kitts, with just 40,000 inhabitants, suffered three murders in four days last November. The prosperous Bahamas are far more dangerous than impoverished Guyana. In Trinidad and Tobago, the murder rate has quadrupled over the past decade, despite a fall in unemployment from 18% in 1994 to 5% last year.

The common factor behind this violence is the illegal drugs trade, which provides gangs with cash and weapons. But the link with narcotics is not simple. Since the 1990s, cocaine shipments in the Caribbean have stabilised while murder rates have soared. Suriname, no slouch in the drugs business, has the region's safest streets. Violence surges when gang politics are unsettled. Fights break out over turf, bad debts or deals gone sour. Rivalries peak when supplies run dry, and when arrests or deaths create a leadership vacuum.


More than 6m tourists visited the English-speaking Caribbean last year. Few ran into serious trouble. Most of the bullets hit young working-class men with the wrong networking skills, or their families and neighbours. But armed robbery, ending sometimes in murder, has a wider social reach. In some islands, a climate of fear curtails everyday routines. Many Jamaicans no longer risk a night-time drive to Kingston's airport. Catholic churches in Trinidad have moved their Christmas midnight mass to an earlier hour.

Public reaction varies. Crime barely featured in last year's elections in the Bahamas and Jamaica, nor is it an issue in Belize's current campaign. But in Trinidad and Guyana, political polarisation has brought calls for get-tough policies such as “zero tolerance”, the enforcement of the death penalty, and the imposition of a state of emergency. The region's prisons are already crowded. Of 31 countries with more than three out of every thousand citizens behind bars, 17 are in the Caribbean.

Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados are now strengthening their coastguards to choke the influx of drugs and guns—though this may simply force the drug barons to shift their trade elsewhere. On land, where police services are creaky and their staff sometimes corrupt, reform is under way, but will be a long haul. Even when arrests are made, it can be years before the culprits are brought to trial. Removing the glamour of gangland crime for the region's disaffected youth will take even longer.


Copyright © 2008 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.

[Djedi Maaur]

OH Trinidad! BLack people stop the f**kery. love your fellow man and stop living like animals.


THE murder of gangster Sheldon 'Crock' Scott, the closure of the police base in Picton and the refusal to pay the police's gang-fighting unit overtime have been blamed for the explosion of gang violence in the Laventille village.

Since Scott's killing on Carnival Sunday there have been two murders, three shootings, two houses were firebombed, an attempt was made to burn down a third house and gunmen shot at another residence.

Several of the attacks have taken place in daylight. Picton remained empty yesterday and the few people who ventured out chose not to speak directly with the media. Most just murmured that the "war now start, is more bodies to fall".

Taxi-drivers warned about "going up the hill" and those who did speak said they were too afraid to say anything, for fear that the gangsters might turn on them.

"In this town those who have the guns rule and if you don't have a gun or move with the gunmen then you have to know your place, bat in yuh crease," one resident said.

The police base at Fort Picton, where the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) was based, was closed on January 23, around the same time gang violence resumed in the area. About 20 police officers and 25 soldiers were based there.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of overtime are owed to IATF officers and they have threatened to withhold overtime. Following this, the shifts the unit worked were changed from 24-hours on/24-hours off, to 24-hours on/48-hours off. To facilitate a third shift and to eliminate the overtime, the Fort Picton base was closed and officers re-located to other areas, sources in the unit said yesterday.

Four soldiers from the army reserves are now stationed at the fort to guard the compound. The officers attached to the base were not given an official reason for the closure.

The IATF was formed in 2003 by then ACP Crime Oswyn Allard as the police's major gang-fighting unit.

There are close to 120 police officers attached to the unit, working out of five bases in and around East Port of Spain and Laventille.

Picton was then identified as one of the crime hot spots.

Picton Road starts at the front of the John John Towers and worms its way up the hill to Laventille Road, passing on its way the two water tanks and Our Lady of Fatima RC Church. The area is also connected to Beverly Hills and Straker Village through a number of tracks.

In addition to anti-crime operations, the IATF conducts gang surveillance work and provides back-up on raids done by various special units in the service, such as the Organised Crime Narcotics and Firearms Bureau, Special Anti-Crime Unit, Anti-Kidnapping Unit and Criminal Intelligence Unit.

A senior police officer yesterday confirmed the closure of the base, but said it was a temporary move. He also confirmed the recent gang violence was a result of Scott's murder.

Officers attached to the IATF contend that if they were still at the base, the level of violence would have been averted.

"The evidence is there to see. When we were at the base, yes there were murders, but not this kind of violence. Had our presence been there, the gangsters would not have taken the chance to do what they did. You have men walking the road in broad daylight with guns and burning homes. No police so they doing what they want," the IATF source said. "If not paying overtime is more important than fighting crime then expect more of what happened Sunday."

Through his communications department, Police Commissioner Trevor Paul yesterday said only that "the matter is receiving the attention of law enforcement".

Scott, 30, for many years one of the country's most feared and devious gangland killers, was shot dead around 9.20 p.m. on Carnival Sunday. His murder, police say, is linked to a fallout with another head gangster over a cache of guns two weeks before his death.

On Carnival Monday and Ash Wednesday, two men and a women were shot respectively and investigators say all three shootings were linked to Scott's murder.

Last Saturday, 16-year-old Kevin Lewis was killed near Pump Trace. Lewis, police say, was the gunman who killed Scott.

On Sunday night, Curt Lester, also known as Pusher, was shot dead in a track off Picton Road. Lester, 42, was said to be an associate of Scott.

Investigators also have information that the gangsters behind the murders accused the people whose houses were firebombed of giving Scott a hideout.

Police say the violence is expected to continue, as the gangster behind Scott's murder was taking over his Picton turf.

"These fellas have guns that they not afraid to use and as long as no police close by they will shoot," the IATF source said.

"Put back a base, pay us for our work and see for yourself what will happen. The evidence is there. We hold it down before and we could do it again."

[Djedi Maaur]

Counting the cost of violence in the region
Published on: 2/10/08.

WHILE WE HARBOUR THOUGHTS of having the rest of the world see the Caribbean as a zone of peace, since we do not have any neighbours at war with each other, our image is suffering through the region being regarded as having one of the highest levels of organised crime. The latest assessment in this regard comes in a new book on world crime, written by Ian Van d**e, a Dutch university professor.

Van d**e, a former United Nations official, maintains that the level of organised crime in the Caribbean is the same as that in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western Central Africa, where criminal violence has triggered an ongoing refugee problem.

According to Van d**e, this organised crime in the areas mentioned undermines efforts to improve governance and fight poverty. He further warns that aid agencies like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and international institutions such as the World Bank, were ignoring the crime trends in the areas "at their peril".

Van d**e has advised that these institutions need to see tackling organised crime as part of any strategy aimed at assisting development in these regions. He stressed that money spent on fighting the criminals becomes unavailable for development projects.

What also needs to be noted is that problems posed in the Caribbean by organised crime have been focused on in the current edition of The Economist as well. The magazine highlights the Caribbean crime problem in its current issue, in referring to a World Bank report that labels the region as a leader in violent crime.

The killing statistics bear out the charges made by the two sources. For about three or four years in a row in Jamaica we have been witnessing record numbers of people killed, each time with a figure higher than 1 000. In Trinidad and Tobago, it was also a record year for murders last year, with 388 killings. The trend threatens to continue as within 12 hours of 2008, nine people were murdered.

Then there is Guyana to the south, where there was the killing of 11, including children, in an attack on a village by criminal elements just days ago. And Haiti, to the north, remains a haven for criminal activity as that country struggles, not only to tackle the overwhelming poverty of its millions, but also to bring good governance.

Trinidad and Tobago has already begun a debate on crime in the country with the focus on targeting gangs and dealing with drug traffickers.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has introduced some sophisticated, hi-tech equipment to fight the criminals but it will be expensive to maintain. Questions have been raised by some commentators about the anticipated cost, with the hope that the required maintenance does not present a new challenge, apart from the crime.

Whatever might be the outcome of the Trinidad and Tobago strategy, throughout the region the fight against crime will have to be always co-ordinated, having understood that holistically we have the same crime problem, rather than that as separate island states we have individual challenges.

[Djedi Maaur]

A regional anti-crime initiative
Published on: 2/4/08.

THE CRIME epidemic seriously affecting various national jurisdictions of the Caribbean Community seems to be competing with external economic relations for urgent attention by our heads of government.

Therefore, when they meet in The Bahamas next month for their first Inter-Sessional Conference, it is to be expected that in addition to deep concerns over the yet unsigned Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, crime and violence in our community will be given priority consideration – for action.

If the grisly statistics of climbing murder rates, armed robberies and gang warfare in countries such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago had failed to influence a change in the leaders' work agenda for the March 7 to 8 conference in Nassau, then last week's massacre of 11 Guyanese in the village of Lusignan, should have rung the alarm bell loud enough.

As CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington said in a note to President Bharrat Jagdeo, condemning the horrific tragedy that included five children: "This appalling crime has demonstrated a singular disregard for human life and has reverberated throughout the community and beyond...."

A day later, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Albert Ramdin, in expressing condolences to the families of the victims noted: "This deplorable crime against innocent people underscored the grave scourge of crime and violence that plagues the region...and should be placed high on the agenda of coming (separate) meetings of CARICOM Heads of Government and Ministers of National Security...."

It must be quite evident to all our CARICOM governments that the criminal rampage, the climbing murder rates and armed robberies, the ongoing bloody clashes of well-armed gangs, are all contributing to spreading lawlessness and fear and making a mockery of officially expressed commitment to providing a safe and secure environment consistent with the rule of law.

In the circumstances, the region's people are entitled to know the status of CARICOM's so-called "master plan" to beat back the criminal upsurge across member states, and more precisely, whether the community's leaders are now disposed to giving consideration for a new cooperation mechanism in the battle against crime and violence. For instance, such as the creation of a Regional Rapid Response Anti-crime Force, as was proposed more than seven years ago during a meeting of Heads of Government.

In reviewing their anti-terrorism cooperation with major donor nations, CARICOM should now seek a more significant response by them to enable a new regional initiative to effectively deal with the dangers being posed to national/regional security by criminal networks that are also involved in gun-running and narco-trafficking – across borders.

[Djedi Maaur]

See all evil, hear all evil

By RHONDOR DOWLAT Sunday, February 17 2008
click on pic to zoom in
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: The Beverly Hills, Laventille Housing Plannings, which is currently under construction....
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: The Beverly Hills, Laventille Housing Plannings, which is currently under construction....
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GONE WERE THE DAYS where youths respected their elders and obeyed them.

Nowadays the elders of Laventille are said to be “running scared” as they claim to be faced with numerous threats from children and grandchildren who have become involved in criminal activities.

All that is heard echoing now is “Laventille used to be a very nice place — peaceful, quiet, nice community where children played together and grew up to be extraordinary young men and women.”

Laventille consists of several villages including St Barb’s, Beverly Hills, Canada, John John, Picton Road, Dan Kelly, Trou Macaque, Desperlie Crescent and Africa. Its population is estimated to be just over 100,000.

It is said that islanders from Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts/Nevis, Jamaica and Guyana came to Trinidad where they settled and began having their own families in the luscious hills of Laventille. Generations after and with the increasing spate of crime in the country, especially in the Laventille Hills with a lot of gang-related murders being recorded, many questions have been raised: Why? How come? What ever happened?

In a bid to help answer these questions, Sunday Newsday went into the area during the past week where several hours were spent interacting with the residents — young, old, including “youths on the block.”

The senior heads had little to say though, except: “Laventille used to be a nice place. Everyone was in unity — we were all one family.”

A 65-year-old man, who wished not to be identified told Sunday Newsday that it pains him o see the youths going astray and that they (the seniors) are left helpless. “These children, I don’t know what to say. But they are not listening to us anymore. They doing their own thing and getting involved in guns, drugs, kidnappings, murders and we have to sit back and turn a blind eye and deaf ear,” the elderly man said.

When asked why, he replied: “It happened to me and it is happening to others older than I, we are forced and sworn to secrecy by our children and grand children some of us great-grand children.

“We cannot say anything because they will kill us. It is a sad time now in our life and in our country. I see things but I have to do like I ain’t see anything at all.”

Describing how life in Laventille was long time ago, the man said: “It was nice. Everyone lived in each other’s house. There were no burglar proofings, no locked doors, the children played in the yard all day long, everyone just talked and laughed with each other. Those days I think could never come back.

“Children going to school. Sunday morning going to church. Everyone listening to their parents, elders, preachers. I just don’t know what happen what evil spirit enveloped the community and our children’s minds,” he added.

Another senior, Fitzroy Julien, 70, of Picton Road, Laventille described the situation as “all for money.” Julien’s house was one of the three houses that were firebombed in last week’s attack. “This generation just gone real bad. They only want fast money and not even thinking about school, jobs, including the jobs provided by the government,” Julien said.

“All of this is just a lot of stupidness. You find that these boys are just idlers and they make a lot of mischief and influence others. They look to terrorise people, especially strangers and then of course that leads to trouble — people get shot and killed,” he added.

A 21-year-old man, when approached, was first reluctant to say anything but in light conversation he described the guys in his village as “good guys.” “We are not in anything. You see there are the guys who are in shady business and they do their thing and look to palm it off on us, that is when we would get aggravated and look to react but it doesn’t mean that we go looking for stuff.”

“Now don’t get me wrong it have guys who just live to terrorise people and if caught take the rap, of course there are going to be a lot of consequences to be paid, there are going to be what we call ‘paybacks’,” he added.

There are countless gangs in the Laventille and its neighbouring communities of Morvant and San Juan. Each village within these communities has its own gang.

Currently there is said to be a gang war brewing between Picton Road and John John, however, residents of both sides chose to remain silent on the issue for fear of their lives. When asked to comment, the 21-year-old man said: “We not really bothering about who warring against who. At the end of the day we are all fending for ourselves and for the people in our neighbourhood. And we will do whatever it takes to protect ourselves.”

Over the past week, beginning from February 6, there was a sudden upsurge in gang-related activities, which drew nationwide attention.

Three persons, including Terneka Walker, 19, Cavolan Mc Hutchinson and Aaron Ganesh of Picton Road were all shot and wounded by five men dressed in black clothing, who claimed to be “police”. Semi-automatic machine guns were believed to be used in the attack.

Four days later (February 10), residents were forced to run for cover as a gang walked through the village and sprayed their homes — three of which were firebombed, two being completely destroyed.

Later that same day, at about 8.30 pm Curt Lester Penny, 42, aka “Pusher” was shot dead while walking along a track — a stone’s throw away from where the shootings and firebombing incident occurred.

These incidents caused Picton Road residents to swiftly evacuate the area, which is now described as a ghost town.

With “Picton under siege,” last Tuesday, police officers along with heavily armed soldiers rolled into the area and had it under lock down for about seven hours while they extensively conducted searches. Five men, aged between 21 and 28 were subsequently detained for questioning. Officers reportedly seized 17 Molotov thingytails, camouflage gear and weapons.

[Djedi Maaur]

TT sends arms, helicopter

By ROXANNE STAPLETON-WHYMS Thursday, February 21 2008

ARMS OF a special type are to be dispatched by the Trinidad and Tobago Government to Guyana, in the wake of Sunday’s massacre of 12 persons at Bartica and the January 26 slaying of 11 persons at Lusignan.

In addition, a helicopter will be loaned for a short period of time, Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced yesterday during a joint press conference with Barbados Prime Minister, David Thompson, at the Diplomatic conference Centre, St Ann’s. “The security situation in Guyana has deteriorated. We’ve taken note of two massacres and we have been in touch with the Government of Guyana. The Minister of National Security, Martin Joseph has been in touch with his counterpart, Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee.

“The Government of TT has agreed to assist the Government of Guyana in tracking down the criminals and fugitives. Both (arms and helicopter) are necessary if those who are responsible for perpetrating this crime are to be brought to justice,” Manning stressed.

Manning said it is not just an isolated view, but the view of all Caricom governments, that the war must be waged against crime and that it not be allowed to escalate any more than it already has.

“To the extent of our abilities we will use whatever resources are available to us to deal with this question of crime and there is collaboration between the various governments on the matter.”

He reiterated that much of the crime experienced across the region has been drug-related and TT and other Caricom governments, including the Government of Barbados, have turned their attention to eradicating the illicit trade.

Thompson, who is in TT on a two-day official visit, extended sympathy to the people of Guyana on behalf of Barbados. He emphasised that violent crime is “one of the biggest threats to the economic, peaceful and orderly development” of Caricom states and therefore must be treated with that level of seriousness.

Crime must be high on Caricom’s agenda in order for the scourge be stamped out, Thompson said.

[Djedi Maaur]

CoP: Plot to kill police

Thursday, February 21 2008

Guyana’s Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene has stated that officers were not as aware as they should have been, in order to prevent last Sunday’s massacre in Bartica, in which 12 persons were killed and eight injured.

Greene said this in response to questions from Newsday yesterday, shortly after visiting one of the injured police officers at St Joseph Mercy Hospital, Georgetown. Newsday was not allowed to speak to the injured officer.

There were some issues taking place in Bartica at the time of the incident, according to the acting commissioner and “we were told policemen were going to be killed.

Now it has happened. That was an act of terrorism with the aim of demoralising the police.”

He also revealed that several suggestions were made at an emergency consultation on Tuesday, between President Bharrat Jagdeo, members of the business community, the Inter-Religious Organisation and national security personnel.

“We are looking at a re-assessment of all stations, in terms of re-tooling.

“This would mean improving the quality of our firearms and training officers on proper usage,” he said. “This will be done with training from the Tactical Services Unit. In the past, there has been a fear among officers to use their weapons, and also to wear bulletproof vests. I’m sure that they would be more aware now.”

In the Bartica massacre on Sunday, the gunmen killed Deonarine Singh, Errol Thomas and Gomes, employees of Boodoo’s General Store; Lance Corporal Zaheer Zakhir, Constable Shane Fredericks and Constable Ron Osbourne of Bartica Police Station; Abdool Yassin, Ashraf Ali Khan and “Old Man”, staff of Banks Beer; Edwin Gilkes of Banks Security Service, Orvin Ferreira of CB&R Mining Company; and taxi driver Dexter Adrian.

Greene said after the gunmen raided the Bartica Police Station, it was discovered that a number of guns and several rounds of ammunition were taken, including six rifles, .38 revolvers, two shotguns and a few pistols, which were normally used by private security firms.

“However, we want to assure the public that they need not be scared. We are checking out all the reports we are getting and it is just a matter of gathering enough evidence in order to make arrests.”

Civilians in Georgetown meanwhile said they had no choice but to continue with their lives. Newsday learnt that with the fear of crime increasing in the country, there were more applications for firearm licenses.

“In the past five years, over 70,000 applications for firearms were approved, and many citizens don’t leave their homes without their gun,” a source revealed.

“This is out of a population of about 800,000, which is a lot more than you have in Trinidad.”
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[Djedi Maaur]

CONCERNED about criminal involvement in the Unemployment Relief Programme and the effect it is having on gang violence, a High Court judge criticised Government's inaction on Friday.

In freeing two men charged with one of the most brazen gang-related murders, Justice Anthony Carmona described as "delusional" and "irresponsible" statements an official had made that there were no criminal elements in the URP.

Carmona did not name the official.

However, former Local Government Rennie Dumas, when questioned on the issue in the run-up to last year's general election, went on record to say that there were no criminal elements in the URP.

Police statistics have shown that over 100 of the victims of gangland killings since 2002 were either URP supervisors, foremen, contractors or workmen.

Homicide detectives and officers from several intelligence units formed to monitor gangs have also said dozens more murders committed are related to fall-out from State-run special works projects.

Government involvement in hiring and awarding of contracts to known criminals has also been well documented over the last ten years.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning himself has had a history of dealing with people identified by police as criminals and gang leaders associated with the URP and other State-run projects.

Police, including former commissioner Hilton Guy, have also said that monies from the URP and other projects were being used to fund gang wars, murders and other "ghetto" crimes.

Gangland violence has fuelled this country's high murder rate and spun off into other crimes, such as drug trafficking, gun smuggling and kidnapping for ransom, police say.

Under Manning's PNM Government, several key crime figures identified by the police, including Mark Guerra, Kerwin "Fresh" Phillip, Sheldon "Crock" Scott, Glenroy "Abdul Malick" Charles and Salim "Small Salim" Rasheed, among others, have amassed millions through the URP and what was then the NHA refurbishing projects.

In 2002, Manning had secretly met with several known gang leaders and after one such meeting, backed down on a move to appoint ex-policemen to administer the URP, put there in the first place to clamp down on corruption.

Manning has never denied meeting with gang leaders.

Recently the Prime Minister noted in an interview that nearly all of the men he had met with have been murdered and police say all of those killings have been gang-related.

Manning's PNM, however, has not been the only party involved in URP-related corruption.

Under the UNC in 1999, councillor Hansraj Sumairsingh, chairman of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation, was murdered and the killing evidence showed it was linked to URP corruption.

Sumairsingh was killed overfall-out from the construction of basketball court and pavilion at Poole Valley, Rio Claro.

Former local government minister Dhanraj Singh was charged with the murder, but later freed in the High Court. Singh is also facing 26 fraud charges related to kick backs from URP and other State-run projects.

Sumairsingh is not the only councillor to have been murdered because of URP-related corruption.

In late 2006, Bert Allette, a PNM city councillor, was murdered in Belmont after raising objections about ghost gangs in a URP project, Homicide detectives say.

Incidentally, the man who was questioned about the murder and is still the number one suspect was recently awarded a $2 million Government project, sources from the police's gang intelligence unit say.

Recently, Selwyn "Robocop" Alexis, during a recent kidnapping trial, said in open court that he built houses for the then National Housing Authority under the UNC. No one from the Opposition ever denied the charge.

Based on police intelligence and records, the escalation in gangland violence and murders started in late 2001, early 2002.

Deputy Police Commissioner Gilbert Reyes has said that gang murders are mainly responsible for the country's high homicide rate.

Police records show that the increase in murders coincided with the appointment of Mark Guerra as national adviser to the URP. The post, which had never existed before then, was created for Guerra.

In September of 2002, one Government minister moved to stem the corruption in the URP by appointing members of the Flying Squad as programme supervisors.

But Manning reversed the decision after he met with several gang leaders, including Guerra and Phillip, at the Ambassador Hotel, Long Circular Road, St James.

Weeks later, when the violence exploded, Manning secretly met with gang leaders again at the same hotel and at the Rose Foundation in St James, to broker a peace deal.

Guy had said, based on police information then, that the URP and the NHA refurbishing projects were contributing to the gang violence and that most of the people involved in the murders were part of a Muslim organisation.

Late in 2002, Sean "Bill" Francis went public and said that ghost gangs in the URP and NHA projects were the main reasons behind gang violence in Laventille and Morvant.

Francis said while he was a programme coordinator in 1998/99, he got rid of over 7,000 "ghosts" in the Port of Spain region, an area controlled by Guerra.

Former PNM senator

Muhammad Shabaaz was at the side of Francis when he met Manning at the Rose Foundation, St James.

Shabaaz was soon after fired as the coordinator of the $250 million NHA refurbishing project, and in his place Cabinet appointed former murder accused David "Buffy" Millard, who held the post until he fled to Guyana.

In one public fiasco several "ghosts" were paid millions of State dollars. Names such as "Jennifer Lopez", "Serena Williams" and "Arnold Schwarzenegger" were paid for painting houses in east Port of Spain.

The Opposition had asked that the audited report of the project be laid in Parliament, but it was never done.

In the run-up to the elections of 2002, Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr revealed that Government had started the paper work to hand over five acres of State lands adjoining the Mucurapo headquarters of the organisation to them. Manning pulled back under public pressure.

The murders continued in 2003 and it was around this time that Phillip and Charles started amassing their wealth after Guerra was murdered, police say.

Phillip was leader of the infamous G-Unit gang and Charles was the head of all the major criminals in west Port of Spain. At the time of his murder, Charles was described as a URP contractor worth $14 million.

Months before he was killed, Phillip was given a million-dollar Government contract to build a health centre at Oxford Street, Port of Spain. Phillip admitted to getting the contract during an interview with CNMG.

In 2004, Kirk Walker, a former coup maker, said he was illegally paid a URP cheque to keep him quiet after a gangster pulled a gun on him - this despite Walker's not having worked with the programme.

Walker was given the Government cheque for $710.30, dated December 20, 2004. The cheque, number U 00648168, was issued for work done in the Arima Region, Bertie Road Sanitation Project for the fortnight November 22 to December 3.

Then URP acting manager Uric Williams said he was aware of similar situations in that region, where people were being paid for work not performed.

During Abu Bakr's conspiracy to murder trial, State witness Brent Danglade said in open court that he was paid for not doing any work in the programme.

Under Singh, a unit was set up to investigate ghost gangs in the URP and has compiled several reports confirming the existence of it.

In 2004, the Ministry of Local Government started a programme to award URP contracts to gangsters if they gave up their guns, a Sunday Express expose reported.

Dumas, however, said he was not aware of such a programme.

Last year, detectives linked a wave of murders in Sea Lots, Port of Spain, to a URP contract awarded to a known criminal in the Production Avenue area.

Rasheed, who was given a URP contract to build drains at Seventh Avenue, Malick, was murdered and police said the death was related to fall-out from the contract.

Scott, whose murder sparked a wave of violence in Picton three weeks ago, was a contractor at the Beverly Hills apartments site.

Several other gang leaders and known criminals identified by the Inter Agency Task Force are also employed with the URP as either contractors, supervisors, foremen or normal workers, despite their involvement in murders, drug trafficking and kidnappings.

Police say as long as criminals benefit from State-run projects like the URP, gang violence will never stop, as corrupt monies from the special projects will continue to fund the killings and gangland violence.

What Justice Carmona said on Friday:

"Some person in authority had stated that there were no criminals in the URP. I dare say, in fact, that particular statement by the person in authority was highly delusional and totally irresponsible, because not only I, but my other brothers have made the observation time and time again of a lot of criminal activity taking place in the bowel of the URP and that is the stark reality.

"Based on matters coming before the courts in the last 18 months, I can tell you that in the bowels of the URP there is rank criminality and the authorities need to address this, you understand."

What Dumas said in an interview in 2005:

"I am saying that you will not find an individual or a group of individuals turning up and getting their cheques from us without working for it. I feel you will have serious difficulty in finding that.

"People might be employed with URP just as they could be employed anywhere else, but their major activity is outside URP. They are not using URP funds to fund kidnapping or fund drug trafficking. If you use their URP membership or the occasion of work in the URP to identify them, then you are stigmatising the URP. If it's a drug lord it's a drug lord, if it's a drug salesman, it's a drug salesman, if it's a kidnapper it's a kidnapper."

The progression of murders between 2001 and 2007;

2001 151

2002 171

2003 229

2004 260

2005 386

2006 371

2007 388

[membership dropping]

MEMBERSHIP in a notorious Port of Spain gang appears to be dwindling, as another one of its members was gunned down on Sunday night.

Dead is 20-year-old of Junior McShine, of Hermitage Road, Belmont.

Police said he was a member of the infamous G Unit gang. He had the gang's name tattooed on his left hand.

Reports are McShine was shot in his face around 10 o'clock at Lodge Place, East Dry River, Laventille. He died on the spot.

Police believe he may have been in the area to see a female friend.

McShine is said to have been wanted by police in connection with several shooting offences and also some drug offences.

After the shooting death of reputed G Unit leader Kerwin "Fresh" Phillip on September 16, several members of the gang have been murdered.

Phillip, 34, of Charford Court, Port of Spain, was shot dead while leaving a party on Henry Street. Police said they expected reprisals in the wake of Phillip's murder.

Three days after Phillip's death, Allan "Mentor" Wills was shot three times while liming on Prescott Terrace and Quarry Street, Laventille. The 20-year-old was described as a"shooter" for the gang.

On October 5, Kwame Julien was gunned down outside the Harpe Place, Observatory Street, Port of Spain, a short distance from his home.

The 26-year-old, also known as "Smooth Man" and "Butters", was said to be the leader of a "fragmented section" of the gang.

Last week, the new leader of the Maloney G Unit arm sustained gunshot injuries to his chest and arms in a shooting incident in that area. He was shot three times.

Two days after that incident, 17-year-old Roshawn "Monster" Williams was shot three times to the head and body.

[Djedi Maaur]

Popular urban radio station RED 967fm is taking a stand against violence; this comes in the wake of yesterday's stabbing to death of a secondary school student. The station has decided to clamp down on the violent dancehall music that is pervading the local airwaves.

Well-known DJ, Kwesi "Hyper Hoppa" Hopkinson, special advisor/consultant at the station, told the Express that the stabbing incident as "the last straw" and he identified the music of dancehall star Movado as one of the chief offenders in this regard.

"There is no doubt that the music is influencing the youths towards violence. Particularly an artiste like Movado who says he's a gangsta for life and has the youths emulating that lifestyle," Hopkinson said.

Asked why these chose Movado in particular, Hopkinson said he has been in the business for over 12 years and understands what music does to people. He said he had nothing personally against Movado and his music.

"But we need to understand what Movado is doing to the youths when he says he's a gangsta for life. We have to take a stand against the music that's inflaming these young minds, because they are not strong enough to withstand these messages," he said.

Hopkinson said his Afternoon Drive programme, which airs from 3 to 6 p.m. daily, would be focussing on music with more positive messages. He also spoke about the music of 50 Cent and newcomers Busy Signal and Demarco as having negative influences.

Hopkinson said he hoped DJs at other stations would see the harm that is being done and take a similar stance.
"We certainly are taking a stand at this station," he said.