Ministry of Home Affairs Still Deliberating on Issuing SOE  

While the good news is that major crimes and homicides are on the decline, there’s been a worrying spike in gang activity recently. Last year, several states of emergency were declared to curb gang-related crimes. We asked Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa if he plans to issue another SOE soon. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“That was  on the table, and I can say here, know that it still is on the table. We were monitoring it closer to the election where it was extremely heightened. And I think we came fairly close, commissioner to declaring a state of emergency. But it was never done. It was quelled for a bit, but again, now we see other areas are sparking. I know at the time of the election we were specifically looking at six different gangs in Belize City that were going to be a part of the SOE. We’re still monitoring those six gangs. And then there are a couple others now as well. And so that is still on the table. I’m not saying that we’re going to declare one this week or next. But it certainly is on the table. We are in discussions not just with the commissioner and the police department, but also with the Leadership Intervention Unit to get their feedback because it is that we would want to have a targeted SOE as opposed to a blanket net cast over everybody.”