Since 1986, Marcia Marchan, a Special Reserve Police officer, has been running the Bagatelle Police Youth Club with little infrastructure to support the 150 young members. Every day she and the club members would gather under a tarpaulin tent to conduct their activities. Now, the club has received a $1 million building that can house the young people of Bagatelle.
“This Police Youth Club started off in my home with my husband Selwyn Marchan. We decided we would put up a tarpaulin and I would sit there morning and evening and as the children pass to go to school I would approach the children and meet with them under the tarpaulin,” Marchan said. Marchan said the club did not have any running water, electricity, bathrooms or facilties to take care of the young people. Even without the infrastructural foundation, Marchan said the club still tried to support the members with anything they may have needed.
“Every evening we would give our children a plate of food. They would do their homework. I would visit their school to make sure the children were alright. Everyone would know that Miss Marcia is coming.” Now the club has a building that has all the basic amenities and is equipped with a computer lab, an audio-visual room and more. She hopes that the club building can become a home to all the people in the community, especially if they are in need of assistance.
“The building is open to everyone. This building is a home. If you are a mess and you need someone to talk to, everyone knows you can open the door and come in and talk to a human. Everyone knows if you want a plate of food and you need something to eat, you can open the door and be fed. If there is a problem in the school, I will go and deal with the principal and make sure the problem is fixed for my members,” Marchan said. Marchan lauded Works and Infrastructure Minister, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan for his assistance in the construction of the club.
The building, which cost a million dollars to build and $140,000 to outfit, was built in eight weeks by the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP). Rambachan said the construction of the building was not a political strategy to gain votes from opposition constituencies. Rather, the idea came directly from Marchan who sought his assistance to have the facility done.
“What is important is not politics. What is important is providing a space for the youth and providing an alternative lifestyle for them. This has no politics. Mrs Marchan came to me in January and this building was done in eight weeks,” Rambachan said. He added that his ministry has built 18 similar buildings and are in the process of building more in areas like Caparo Trace, Cunupia and Las Lomas.
Colm Imbert, Member of Parliament for the area, said there were two sides of Rambachan, a sharp politician who sits on the opposite side to him, and a man devoted to the betterment of the people of the country. Imbert recalled the times when he was Minister of Works and Infrastructure and Rambachan was the Mayor of Chaguanas and the two worked together to alleviate the traffic problems the burgesses of Chaguanas had.
“He likes to be very political of his party, but obviously he is very driven by the desire to serve and get things done,” Imbert said.