C.Y.D.P. launches Mayflower People’s Coalition

With crime out of control, authorities and concerned residents are looking for ways to fight back. The revitalisation of the Conscious Youth Development Program earlier this year is one initiative that government hopes will help to put an end to the violence. Today, the CYDP held a short ceremony to recognise over thirty residents of one crime-prone community, and it also launched the Mayflower People’s Coalition. C.Y.D.P. Director, Superintendent Edward Broaster, and Coalition Vice President, Sandra Uter, told us how the newly formed organisation will combat crime.

Supt. Edward Broaster, Director, C.Y.D.P.
“The idea behind the Mayflower People’s Coalition is to engage the community in that area to work with them to improve the safety, security or the citizenry in that area and we want to work in collaboration with them assessing their needs and see how best we can help them to achieve some of the goals and objectives they have set out in the two days of seminar we had.”

Sandra Uter, V.P., Mayflower People’s Coalition
“The area in which we live, people stigmatize that area as a drug running area and that is what we are trying to get rid of. Also, pertaining to the crime, there are a lot of people that don’t live through there, but when they commit their crimes they come into that way as a route of escape.”

Kendra Griffith
“What are some of the ways you all are planning to address those issues?”

Sandra Uter
“By working with the police, and our community and addressing other needs of other people also by helping them.”

Supt. Edward Broaster
“We want to work with the mothers. We’ve found that they are very effective in terms of dealing with conflict resolution, so we want to expand that and work with them because we believe that they have significant influence in helping us to turn things around in that area.”

Sandra Uter
“We want to see the organisation get pan wah good level, have wah good relationship with the people in the Mayflower Community fi mek this crime and try ease down pan this crime and violence.”

During the training session, the women were taught conflict resolution and planning and organisational skills.