And if the man beside Broaster, Commissioner Chestier Williams looked fighting fit today it's because he just came back from Grand Cayman - where he interacted with his regional commissioners.
It was the ACCP conference, the Association of Caribbean Commissioner of police and he told us that they discussed the rising trend of crime across the region:
Chester Williams - Police Commissioner "The ACCCP - ACCP conference was held in Grand Cayman Islands between the 20th and the 24th of May, 2019, and we had representation from each of the Caribbean Islands, represented by their respective commissioners of police. The conference basically surrounded the issue of citizen security, and the increase of crime within the Caribbean region. And so, you'll see that this crime phenomena is not unique to Belize, but it's something that is occurring across the Caribbean region. And I'm proud to say that of the Caribbean countries, Belize is one countries that is seeing the largest decrease in violent crime within the region. That speaks well to us and our efforts. The main focus though, had to do with the issue of how do we deal with the gang violence that we see across the region. And so, several things were looked at in terms of the use of computers to commit a crime, and we looked at intelligence-led policing. We looked at the different countries that have gang laws, like Belize. And as Mr. Broaster has said, we finally, about 2 weeks ago, decided to test out the gang law, and we ended up charging 4 persons under that piece of legislation. And yes, they have pleaded guilty, and we're now in the process of charging additional gang members."
"We looked at community policing, the effect that it has on reducing crime, and how it can be enhanced. We looked at leadership in the 21st Century, and again the presentation was very good."
The region accounts for just 8 percent of the global population, yet 38 percent of the world's murders. It has 17 of the 20 deadliest nations on earth.
King Sugar Wants Back Its Caribbean Home
King Sugar - that's what the cane industry used to be called in the Caribbean maybe a century ago…but - as the song says - "King Shuga Dead" and now only a few countries like Belize, Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica still produce sugar.
And they assembled in Belize last week - for their 170th Board of Directors Meeting. A release laments that, quote, "Presently, more than two-thirds of sugar consumed in CARICOM comes from extra-regional sources, duty free, displacing market opportunity for over 200 thousand Metric Tons of CARICOM sugar, which is forced onto the low value global market. Policy changes, therefore, are required to secure the integration of the sugar market within the CARICOM Single Market & Economy. A failure to achieve this threatens a major agricultural sector of the region's economy, hundreds of thousands of Caribbean jobs and questions the effectiveness of the single market in meeting its stated objectives." END QUOTE.
The release explains that CARICOM producers are set to deliver nearly 300 thousand Metric Tons of food-grade sugar within the next 18 months, matching the region's demand. But….will Caribbean producers buy up that sugar, or will they instead buy the alternative - which often comes from surplus supply in - of al places - Guatemala.
According to SAC Chairman, R. Karl James, ""Utilisation of our sugar in most of our products would reduce this risk alongside the processing and import costs associated with importing sugar from outside the region. This would bring CARICOM in line with other regional sugar markets."
The release says SAC members continue to dialogue with their respective governments, sugar users and the CARICOM Secretariat to find solutions - which would be a regional place for Caribbean sugar.
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"The ACCCP - ACCP conference was held in Grand Cayman Islands between the 20th and the 24th of May, 2019, and we had representation from each of the Caribbean Islands, represented by their respective commissioners of police. The conference basically surrounded the issue of citizen security, and the increase of crime within the Caribbean region. And so, you'll see that this crime phenomena is not unique to Belize, but it's something that is occurring across the Caribbean region. And I'm proud to say that of the Caribbean countries, Belize is one countries that is seeing the largest decrease in violent crime within the region. That speaks well to us and our efforts. The main focus though, had to do with the issue of how do we deal with the gang violence that we see across the region. And so, several things were looked at in terms of the use of computers to commit a crime, and we looked at intelligence-led policing. We looked at the different countries that have gang laws, like Belize. And as Mr. Broaster has said, we finally, about 2 weeks ago, decided to test out the gang law, and we ended up charging 4 persons under that piece of legislation. And yes, they have pleaded guilty, and we're now in the process of charging additional gang members."