THERE IS this popular thinking that in order to combat and reduce crime, one needs to create opportunities for citizens to utilize their spare time in meaningful ways.

It is largely felt that this approach can counter anti-social behaviour in many ways, especially among young people. It requires, however, a studied and structured approach, serious consultations with citizens, and allocation of the necessary resources.
It is a pro-active intervention, and comes at a time when the world has recognized that crime and violence is a major problem in most countries.
For a number of years, the Citizen Security Programme has embraced this approach through a series of multi-pronged interventions with its Community Action Component.  These are deliberate ways of creating alternatives for residents of the target communities that were considered vulnerable to crime and violence.   They include skills training for hundreds of youths, mainly school dropouts, who otherwise would have had very little opportunities for employment and creating within them a sense of confidence and a positive and purposeful outlook in life.
Critical also were the Rapid Impact Projects in the communities. These are small scale projects of developing and rehabilitating underutilized facilities or the building of new ones where residents can engage in more social activities. They range from multi-purpose centres, information technology and sports. They are all projects that residents say they want.
It is the application of sociological principles of engaging residents in beneficial ways and a tested approach at getting them to move away from anti-social behaviour and creating safer neighbourhoods.
When the community of Tain, in the Port Mourant area, was provided with an additional facility for recreational use by residents, particularly the youths, it offers options for more community engagements.
The Tain Recreational Park which was commissioned by the Hon Clement Rohee, Minister of Home Affairs, was the sixth RIP in the Port Mourant/Rose Hall community. He noted that it is an important project because it means something for the community. For the mainly sugar workers in the community, when the question is asked on  what the Government is doing for them, the establishment of such projects is a way of giving back for the benefit of their children and grandchildren, he said.
He encouraged residents to make maximum use of the facility which should  not only be for mainstream sports,  and challenged them to find  creative ways for other uses including those that would engage the adults and the young people where guidance can be provided.
Pointing to the many other interventions, the minister said this park is a good example to demonstrate what government has been putting in place for the young people. It is one of the many programmes aimed at creating opportunities for leisure and in the process developing a healthy and productive population.
Government has demonstrated in tangible ways and he assured of its commitment  to provide the resources and establish programmers that would enhance positive development.
The Tain Recreational Park is a Ministry of Home Affairs, Citizen Security Programme Rapid Impact Projects. These are small scale community projects aimed at providing additional opportunities to residents and enhancing community cohesiveness and safer neighbourhoods. In the ten communities targeted under the CSP, there are twenty five such projects and they vary from multi-purpose centres, to libraries, and computer labs. They are all projects identified by the communities in which millions of dollars were expended.
Also speaking at the Commissioning Ceremony was Regional Member of Parliament, Faizal Jafarally who noted that over the years, government has been working with a number of stakeholders to ensure that the energy of young people are put to beneficial use. He made reference to a number of educational and recreational facilities that have been established in the area, of which young people are benefitting tremendously.
Community acceptance and ownership of such projects are critical for their intended objectives and sustainability. In expressing appreciation for the development of the park, the Port Mourant-John NDC Chairman, Arjunan Permaul, recognizes that it also provides an enclosed space for the community’s children to have fun, away from the dangers of the roadways and where they can be easily observed and monitored . He also agrees that the facility in many ways would foster much needed cohesiveness and interaction among the growing population in that neighbourhood.