THE increased murder rate is directly related to the number of rival gangs now existing in Trinidad and Tobago.

Gangs can now be found in almost every area of the country, but especially in the so-called “hot spots”.

Even though Laventille, Beetham Gardens, Gonzales, Morvant, Caledonia, George Street, Nelson Street and Duncan Street have been singled out as areas most infested with gang activities, gangs are also found in Maraval, St. Clair and Diego Martin.

According to a survey of sorts by TnT Mirror, Laventille has countless gangs, with one area alone having 12.

In some cases, rival gangs are just a street away from each other.

Mirror was also told that small, rival gangs sometimes team up to go after bigger gangs.

“The gangs may hate each other but if they want to get rid of someone in a bigger gang they would work together to kill that person, then go back to being rivals,” Mirror was told.

Some of the better-known gangs call themselves The Monster Gang, G-Unit and The Gambinos.

Others are called squads, such as the Dan Kelly Squad, John John Squad, Beverly Hills Squad and St. Barb’s Squad.

According to our sources, gangs make friend turn against friend, or brethren go against brethren.

But why do gangs exist?

In the view of one gang member: “As long as there is poverty and greed, gangs will continue to exist.

“Men like easy money, so to get what they want they form gangs to use intimidation.

“Sometimes a man may want to come out of ‘the life’, but when he look around and see his hungry children, he picking up his gun and taking a wuk to kill somebody for a ‘food’.”

And why do gangs rival against each other?

Gangs in different areas fight each other for different reasons: some for drugs; some for turf; others for Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) contracts.

“Sometimes jealousy also leads them to rivalry,” Mirror was told.

“If a pusher has his gang controlling a turf in a certain area and for some reason business runs slow, he would blame the leader of a nearby drug turf for not getting enough sales.

“So they declare war on that turf and eliminate the leader so that their sales would boost up.”

He added: “Gang leaders also look for and create reasons to go to war with another gang; a lot of times they war for senseless reasons.

“And some of the young people in the gangs kill just for rank.

“Yes, it is a ranking thing to kill.”

Mirror also learnt from those in the know, so to speak, that some of the gang members pray for a reason to kill and eagerly wait for an order to go on their next hit.

“And they would kill man, woman or child, because they do not care about anyone, not even themselves,” said the source.

“But most of the killings and warring right now is over contract work in URP.

“Some gang leaders want all the (URP) contracts all over the country, so they kill for it.

“If every leader were to stay in his area and try to help out his people, the murder rate would lessen, because there is enough work for every leader to survive and live nicely.

“But a man may find that the work in his area is not enough so he would try to lock down other areas.

“But he cannot do that just so; he has to kill the leader in that area first, then set-up men to run to work in the area so that he would not be fingered as the one who called the shot.

“Plenty gang leaders doing that and killing plenty people just to control all the URP contracts.”

Mirror was also told that several teenagers (and sometimes the ages are as low as 10 and 11) are involved in gangs. Why?

“Because of poverty,” said another source.

“He look around his house and it have nothing to eat, and a gang leader offer ’im a job and put a gun in his hand … he would do the job just for the money.

“Some are curious and have no respect for life so they join and kill just for fun and ranks.

“Some of the gang leaders actually encourage the youths in their area to join their gang.

“The poorer ones are easily influenced and are brainwashed into thinking that no one likes them so they have to fight back for what they want. They feed them with ideas that they could get all the nice things or ‘bling’ that life has to offer, if they work for their gang.”

Gang war has escalated to the extent that in Laventille, one street-gang member cannot go into the next-door street. Well … unless he comes to execute or be executed.

There are men close to the Rudolph Charles Link Road that cannot even utilise their Community Centre, which is close by, because another gang is situated there.

The reason in that case is simple: Picton gangs are Muslims, whereby St. Barb’s gangs are non-Muslims.

“No Muslim is allowed in St. Barb’s because he would be shot,” is the directive.

This stems from an argument after a football match in St. Barb’s where a St. Barb’s gang member was killed by a Picton Squad member.”

So, who is to blame for the increase gangs?

“Drug pushers in the area, parents, the police, oh yes, the police also have their squad under low,” said one source.

“In fact, a lot of the recent killings were done by policemen.”

There is also said to be strong belief among underworld figures with some links to the cops, that there exists a police list of gang leaders to be eliminated.

“Soon enough you’re going to hear about a lot of police being killed because gangs know police are assassinating people,” the source added.

“By next year all around this time so, watch and see how much police dead.”

A former gang member who is trying to make a difference in his area told Mirror that the constant gang rivalry is senseless.

“Life is too valuable for people to be killing one another,” he said.

He claims to have two contracting URP companies that try to employ and help as many people in the area as possible.

“I am no longer on stupidness,” he said.

“I am working legal and I am striving. I am trying to show the young people in my area that they, too, could work honestly and survive and have the best.

“I talk to them on a regular basis, sometimes I take them out to places like Grand Bazaar so that they would know another part of life and not just the ‘ghetto’.”

Residents in his area also cannot use the Community Centre because of an ongoing gang war, but he said he is lobbying the Ministry of Community Development to build a Community Centre, work shops and recreation ground at the Reservoir area in Mc Shine Road, close to the Rudolph Charles Link Road.

“These gang wars and killings are a crying situation,” he said.

“It has gone too far.

“If the government could open a few more URP gangs, that may slow down the killings.

“Even though the money may be small, if a man knows he has some sort of income he may change his lifestyle.”