P.M. Addresses Crime and Violence in Belize

Prime Minister John Briceño also weighed in on the crime situation this morning.  He pointed to various initiatives that his administration has undertaken to provide employment for opportunities youths, as an alternative to crime and violence.  He also touched on the importance of education and the need to keep children in school.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“As a government, we’ve been saying it over and over, that we would not allow a small group of people to terrorize our law abiding citizens.  We have been doing everything possible to assist everyone.  We’ve been working and growing the economy that presently, Madam Speaker, there is an unemployment rate of three percent, never seen in the history of Belize.  I make that point because if these young men want to work, there is work for them.  We have been working with small businesses, with MSMEs, creating opportunities and again, many of them will say, “Oh only the big guys have access.”  We have changed that so if they want to get a taxi, they could come in and register themselves as an MSME and get a taxi to run or whatever it is.  What is important is that we have to ensure that we protect the little ones because whenever I speak to my colleagues, especially those on the south side where we have the most pronounced areas of gang activities, they are telling us that we have to ensure that these little kids stay in school.”