Soca artiste Destra Garcia has spoken out in defence of people living in Laventille and other areas of East Port of Spain.
The Soca artiste, who was on hand for the Digicel Experience Store Opening at Maraval Road in Port of Spain called on the population to stop stigmatising people from the area.
She said the actions of a few people don't necessarily reflect the community as a whole.
"My nieces all live in Laventille and if it weren't a safe place, safe enough for them to live and grow up, they wouldn't be there because I really do love them and I really care about my family and I would have moved them out of there by now. So it's not as bad as people say. Laventille is a huge place, you have a lot of different areas. You have a lot of different gangs and related conflicts and stuff. But what I dislike is the fact that people make it seem like the entire area of Laventille is a horrible place to be, a horrible place to grow up, it's completely saturated with violence, negativity and crime and it's not like that."
The artiste who was born and raised in Laventille, said she was living proof that the area was not as bad as many tend to describe it.
She said many positive well meaning people come out of the area and urged the public not to gain perception from the actions of a few.
"To all the people that are actually bringing down the area, the ones that are involved in crime and the ones that are giving the area a bad stigma, come on guys, take it down. We have enough of that. We have enough people looking at us badly, we have enough people thinking that we are out of control and we are not. We are just young people from the ghetto trying to make it and if you work hard, you can. Anybody could do it."
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