Member of Parliament for the Arouca/Maloney constituency, Camille Robinson-Regis, is rejecting the narrative that Maloney is a  ‘crime hotspot’, calling the label an unfair stigma.

Speaking at the sod-turning for a public swimming pool in the area on Tuesday, Robinson-Regis told reporters the label was not an actual representation of life in the area.

“I don’t want anybody going away and saying this is just a den of criminals- it is not. Maloney is an area that has, like any other area in Trinidad and Tobago, criminal activity. But it is an area that has produced persons of world renowned,” she said.

She justified government’s decision to erect a pool in the community- hitting back at “dissenters” who she said had question the motive behind the initiative.

“There may be a chorus (of people) again- many of whom have swimming pools in their own backyards, that a swimming pool is too good for the people of Maloney. But I don’t believe that is a song that national swimmer Akiel Joseph will sing- because Akiel lives here,” she ended.