Indeed the weekend killing spree jolted the government into unprecedented action. First, Cabinet met on a Sunday, and then, for the first time in memory, the Prime Minister called a press conference on that same day to outline his plan to arrest crime on the southside.
But given the grave crime situation in Belize City - that comes close to a state of civil war - something had to be done urgently.
Not surprisingly, the PUP is not impressed with the PM's strategy.
Today, the opposition presented its own proposals at a press conference. Here's what the Leader John Briceno had to say.
Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"The Prime Minister decided to call a cabinet meeting and press conference on Sunday to try and impress the people that his government is taking decisive action against the crime wave in Belize City but once again the Barrow-Faber government did not disappoint us. The Prime Minister has offered no real solution to the problem."
"The UDP has failed the Belizean people from keeping us safe on the streets and safe in our homes. Ladies and gentlemen on Sunday the PM has shown to this nation that his government is bankrupt on ideas and all that is concerned is trying to contain the internal political descent within the UDP."
"We in the People United Party we would like to make 4 proposals that we believe that can address head on this crisis we are facing in particular in Belize City or south side Belize City. One, the People's United Party is joining with Belizean with demanding that the Commissioner of Police be removed so that trust in police department can be restored. Two, the Pup calls for an immediate appoint of a bi-partisan commission to include civil society and task them within 30 to 60 days to consult with the nation and report on a wide ranging and effective recommendations to deal with gun violence, home invasions and murders. Three, the PUP calls for the immediate strengthening of the investigative branch of the police department and the DPP, a deterrence to crime is that criminals must know that they will be investigated, hunted down and successfully prosecuted and imprisoned. Four, the PUP proposes that instead of treating the south side like of Belize city like a war zone and declaring it a state of emergency, government should declare the south side of Belize city a special development zone where financial and human capital will immediately be made available to transform the lives and environment of the citizens."
"We stand ready to cooperate with the government and to offer any assistance in a genuine and meaningful way for policies and programs to fight scourge of violent crime in Belize."
Email
Print