Muirhouse man and award-winning film maker Garry Fraser gives his take on his community’s current problems …
It’s kinda ironic that the police put out their chopper every night and day, costing some were like £400 grand per month. The aim of this chopper is to catch the young team in their stolen cars and bikes. A’m sure the figures are out but North Edinburgh has the highest crime rate in Scotland. They have evicted folk, jailed folk, issued community sentence orders and then cut off another generation to jail as they are too old.
None of their policies work, which leaves the System scratching its head wondering ‘what are we doing wrong?’ You have a massive college in North Edinburgh where folk from around the world come to study – but only two streets away it’s another world. They shipped everybody out of Muirhouse when knocking down the Pennywell flats. Over the years they took away most forms of economic growth: i.e. the pipes and the gas works even Granton’s fishing boats.
Every local MP & MSP & councillor get in to their comfy seats and forget about this and do nothing, apart from sit over an HIV & smack epidemic that of course lasted through the 80’s & 90’s – now comes weed & legal highs.
Its like south central Edinburgh.. How many police stay in the area were they enforce the morals? How many of those wee guys, if trained in whatever, would probably take a job or go and study but only if they were helped and supported through the college system. Every brickie or trades guy who makes it from Muirhouse, Pilton, Royston or Drylaw ends up being one of the best on the site – that’s a fact …
Most folk down there who get a real chance and opportunity in work or education grab it with both hands as they know what the alternative is … that’s robbing, stealing, dealing and living within the chains of masculinity. That is now, because there are no real opportunities.
Ye need to empower a community and let them come up wi’ their own solutions. You need to invest in education to reduce the gap in equality.
You need to have a rehab or treatment centre bang in the community to get three generations of methadone and other daft prescription drugs clean: ye can’t sell green to addicts through drugs policies then jail folk for selling weed to pay for food, power and for some their own smoke.
Ye can’t put shops with pubs chippy’s and bookies then wonder why folk get addicted to putting bets on! Fatty foods, drink then say ‘Oh, why are they dying of preventable illnesses well before their time?’
When I went to college they say I saved them £1.6 million over three years in the social return on investment – imagine what these wee guys now are costing?
See whoever gets elected for the North Edinburgh do you think they will do anything about these injustices while they say they wish to cut austerity?
I taught maself to read, taught maself to write, love ma people and these rich folk take take take & give nothing back apart from academic reports done by their pals.
The system is rigged …
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Really interesting and valid points from Garry; would be great if these could be put to political representatives at the Hustings event at Millenium Centre Muirhouse tonight 6pm onwards. What are the political parties planning on doing to reduce inequalities and empower communities?