– residents call for a change
Residents of Albouystown yesterday said that the killing of Marvin Boston, who was the peacemaker in a fight, should be an “eye opener” as there are “too many silly quarrels” among young people in the community and this latest incident shows just how far it could escalate.
The majority of the quarrels, they said, are among the youth who they described as “hot blooded” adding that older persons would usually step in and separate the parties involved.
A senior police officer described the community as “always sour” but pointed out that it is not as bad as it was before.
He said that this is one of the areas that the police patrol every day. This was confirmed by residents who told this newspaper yesterday that police were always driving through streets in the community.
When Stabroek News visited some time after 2 pm, groups of mostly young men were idling at almost every street corner. There were also many small children playing on the roadway.
At King Edward Street, where the Boston killing occurred, persons had grouped up. There was a group of young people sitting and standing in the middle of the roadway while a woman holding a newborn baby was sitting on a wooden structure at the side of the road.
Further up the road, two women were sitting on a log and one of them was in a deep conversation with another woman who was standing in front of her.
When approached by this newspaper one of the women sitting on the log said that she was unaware of the incident. She then enquired and was told of Boston’s death.
According to her she has been living in the area for about 45 years and had always seen frequent quarrels mostly among the young people. Persons were quick to point out that this was obviously learned behavior.
Residents yesterday called for change and urged that young people unite for the betterment of the community.
Two women said that Boston’s was first murder in that street for several years now. According to them several persons were shot to death there about eight years ago and they expressed shock over the way Boston met his death.
They called on young people to learn a lesson from this latest incident and to avoid confrontation.
Yet another resident who had been in and out of the community over the past 30 years, said that she did not intervene in quarrels and preferred to stay at a distance and look on. The woman said she avoids stepping in because she doesn’t want to be injured in the process.
Stabroek News was told by a male resident that there are many fights in the area but people do get involved because “dem ain’t want dem blood to shed”.
He said that while the area is relatively quiet there are some young people who are out of control and would prefer to smoke “weed” and lime at street corners all day. The resident said it seemed that they believed doing this is the “best thing” and he blamed their attitude towards life on their parents who fail to set an example.
According to him, many parents either don’t show an interest in their children’s welfare or are hardly at home owing to work responsibilities in some cases.
