As that story illustrates, the northern rural communities of Orange
Walk and Corozal districts live in constant contact and close proximity
to Mexican villages - with many Belizeans going over to communities
across the river like it's just a walk down the road. This historical
intimacy, of course, is what's now putting Belize at high risk since
COVID is rampant in the municipality of Othon P Blanco.
As you heard the commissioner say yesterday, the vast span of the
border is impossible to police. Yesterday the Minister of National
Security said it's about public education:
Reporter
"Where is the Ministry of National Security in terms of dealing with border
jumpers?"
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Minister of National Security
"Well, we lock them up whenever we find them, and we have made the
penalties even stiffer. We're looking into putting more personnel on
the borders to police the borders to try and police the borders, while
at the same time remembering that we only have so many police officers,
BDF, and Coast Guard. I know that people want to see a policeman, a
BDF, or a Coast Guard everywhere they turn, but we're limited by
numbers. We realize that border jumping is the greatest threat to us
when it comes to the COVID pandemic. So, we're doing everything to clog
the hole - so to speak - on a very porous border, for which people for
generations have just been accustomed to jumping the border with
impunity. So, We have a situation, where we have to make sure we change
the mindset and educate people on the dangers of jumping the border, to
begin with. But, when we find that people have jumped the borders, then
we make sure that we detain and isolate them, to ensure that if they
are positive for COVID-19, they don't infect the rest of us."
Tomorrow will see the launch of dedicated hotlines to report contraband
and border jumpers.
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