Activist wants enhanced facility for Haynesville

By Shamar Blunt

One St. James community leader is calling for a new community resource center to be established in the heart of the Haynesville area.

This plea comes from Youth Commissioner and Community Representative, Peter Skeete, as he spoke to media after the completion of a refurbishing exercise at the Haynesville Community Post, done by members of the Prince’s Trust International, with support from the Royal Barbados Police Force.

Skeete graciously thanked the young volunteers for their excellent work in completing a much- needed refurbishing of the site, but said the time had come for a larger, resources building to be erected in the area, to support the large number of youth-centric activities currently being supported by community organisers.

“Haynesville community really is in need of a community center. We have an outstanding football team, outstanding cricketers, outstanding cultural performers, who have distinguished themselves time and time again by winning numerous awards at NIFCA, Spirit of the Nation Show, a host of young people doing positive things.

Dance, drumming, homework programs, anger management, personal development [classes]… but yet still, we don’t have a major community centre to harness the skills of a significant amount of young people who are still left unattended,” he said.

Though he admitted that the current police post in the area has served the community well for several years, the amount of work being done in the space desperately warranted a bigger space in which to function, in particular if compared to other constituencies around the island which have resource centres but little activity taking place.

“When you go to other communities, you see large community centres, and no activity happens in them. The evidence shows that there are tremendous activities that happen for our young people here in Haynesville, but we can only accommodate a [certain] amount.

While we are here on evenings, doing our drumming, there is still loads of young folk running up and down the street, but with a major community centre, we can engage drums, we can engage darts, our young people can play dominoes and engage in other activities,” he added.

Delivery partner manager overseeing the Prince’s Trust International programme, Inspector Roland Cobbler of the Royal Barbados Police Force, said that the force viewed the Prince’s Trust as an important programme, as it targets young persons who are often at risk of being pressured into delinquency.

“From a law enforcement perspective, we are delighted to be the facilitators of this programme, as we are cognisant that positive police [and] youth engagement, increases public safety; reduces crime, and cultivates a degree of trust between the youth and law enforcement.

“This is essential in today’s society as the increasing rate of youth crime in the Caribbean is a major concern,” he said.

The 13 participants started refurbishing the community post on the May 3, and also used their creativity to paint several garbage cans, to be used in the community.