HANDSWORTH and Lozells may have changed since the communities were ripped apart in the 1980s – but many of the same problems still exist.

That is the view of community leaders who admit they have been disappointed to see trouble erupting on local streets in the past few days.

Coun Waseem Zaffar, Labour member for Lozells and East Handsworth since the recent May elections, said people are trying to pull together.

“Relations in the community are far stronger than they were in the 1980s and even five years ago,” he said. “People are much more ready to talk and to try to work together.

“This time there are no accusations of racism from particular ethnic groups. I was part of a meeting on Tuesday with traders, police and community leaders of all colours and creeds and we all joined in condemning the violence.”

But he said the problems experienced in Handsworth and Lozells make it a particular tinderbox.

“Because of our history, as soon as the word riot is mentioned people go on to say Handsworth,” he said. “And it makes this area an easy target. I was out on Monday and I saw young people on the streets who are not from Handsworth but they come here because they think this area always kicks off.

“But this is a very culturally diverse area where people do work together. Only a few days ago we had the carnival here and there were so many people out together enjoying that.”

However Coun Zaffar said his ward does have its problems.

“This is one of the most deprived wards in the country with joblessness at 30.1 per cent and there has been an increase in crime, particularly burglaries and robberies.

“And the resources are being taken away. There has been so much work done here in the community but with the Government’s cuts and the reduction in policing there is now a real gap in activity on the ground.

‘‘A lot of work had been done with third sector agencies but those services are really being hit. There are no youth workers and nobody able to address the issues being faced by young people.

“If you had asked me a few days ago about this community I would have said it was definitely going forward but after what has happened this week we seem to have taken a step back.”

Community activist Raj Rattu believes the Handsworth and Lozells communities are still too separated.

“We say we are multi-ethnic and multicultural but there are issues with lots of specific groups. They don’t mix. There are black Afro-Caribbeans, there are Asians, there are Somalis, there are the newly-arrived Eastern Europeans and Poles and they all live their separate lives.

“We really need the community leaders to come together and help these different groups to integrate.”

Raj says that despite the problems, Handsworth and Lozells are safer places than they were in the 1980s.

“There is definitely a stronger community feel than there was then,” he said.

“But there are a lot of people, particularly young people, who feel alienated.

“People speak about the 1980s as the uprisings. It was a way for people to vent their anger. And then afterwards there were a lot of resources pumped into Lozells and Handsworth but over the years they have gradually disappeared.

“This area has a very young population and yet there are not enough resources allocated for young people.

“I was on the streets this week and it was scary. What we need to do now is be honest and open about the real issues. They have been swept under the carpet for too long. We need to look at what is triggering it, we need to talk about it and we need the different community leaders to work together.”

Their views were echoed by Dr Joe Aldred, secretary of Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs / Churches Together In England.

“There is a tendency to pour money into these communities after something has happened but even then it does not necessarily reach the people who are there but is spent on consultants and building companies from elsewhere,” he said.

“But these citizens are significantly lower on social indices such as education, jobs etc. When younger people feel that they do not have equality then it does not take a great deal to light a fire.

“There are too many young people leaving school with no job to go to, no apprenticeships, and there is a saying that the Devil finds work for idle hands.

“The problem is that these young people do not feel they have a stake in society. They cannot find jobs, they lack the education they need and they have police records early in life. It makes them vulnerable to suggestion and this can very easily set in train the events we have seen in recent days.”

Dr Aldred also said he feels many of the problems which led to the 1980s Handsworth riots are still in existence.

“When I go to Lozells Road I do not see that physically these areas have changed dramatically since the 1980s,” he said. “There are a few shiny new buildings but the lives of the citizens have not seen significant change.”

But he said there is more willingness to work together.

“I chaired the discussions earlier in the year when there was a clash with Easter Sunday and Vaisakhi and it was clear from those meetings that we are all now much more familiar with the different ethnicities and faith.

‘‘Bringing people around the table is a positive side.

“But it is still fragile. It does not take much for the cracks to show. And we are still not sufficiently knowledgeable of each other’s traditions for clashes like that not to have happened in the first place.”