Police Open New Substation in Trial Farm Village

Today, a brand-new police substation opened its doors in Trial Farm Village, Orange Walk. This substation will not only serve the bustling Orange Walk Town and the residents of Trial Farm but also act as a crime deterrent for tourists. After a significant investment of three hundred thousand dollars and several months of construction, the station is now ready for action. Initially, it will be staffed by eight officers, with plans to increase the number of officers later this year. News Five’s Marion Ali was on the scene for the grand opening and filed this report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

This morning, a new police substation opened in Trial Farm Village, Orange Walk. The Belize Tourism Board funded its construction, aiming to reduce crime overall, including incidents involving tourists. Prime Minister John Briceno highlighted that tourists from Mexico play a crucial role in Belize’s development.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“The tourist Mexican market is one there that is right for the taking. They’re right next door. Many of them could drive over to come to Belize. There’s approximately over a hundred and thirty million Mexicans, I’m sure over thirty million of them can afford to be able to take a vacation to a destination like Belize. So we need to put more effort for the Mexicans to know about Belize and for them to understand how easy it is to come to Belize. And for instance, one issue is that they don’t know – they think that in Belize we only speak in English, pero hablamos bastante en español.”

 

The Minister of Tourism highlighted that due to the area’s rapid growth, having a police substation in Trial Farm is a smart move for several reasons.

 

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism

“It’s the fastest growing community in the area. You have a lot of people who work in this area and workers in the tourism industry would come from areas like this. And it is a corridor going into Sarteneja and all those areas to go to Lamanai. So it is important. They said that this is a strategic location. The police department picked this location. Destinations have been destroyed due to crime, like Acapulco, just one coming to mind right now, but a lot of destinations have struggled because they haven’t been able to grapple. In fact, Belize, at times, has struggled, and whenever we have flare-ups in murders and stuff like that, then you go on advisories, some of them unwarranted, most of them unwarranted. But it is important that we continue to collaborate with the police department to ensure that our guests and our Belizeans are safe.”

 

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams stated that the new substation will enhance the efforts of the existing Orange Walk police station.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“You would know that the Orange Walk Town area has expanded exponentially and so just to have one central station in Orange Walk Town, which even though it is Trial Farm and not Orange Walk Town, it is connected to the town, so it looks like one. And in the past, the one station was servicing the entire area, so to have this substation in this area is going to help to take some of the burden from the central station.”

 

Williams mentioned that the station will be fully staffed in the coming months.

 

Chester Williams

“If you notice the station here is still not yet furnished. It still requires some amenities, and so we will be working on those amenities to make sure that we bring it to a certain standard that the police officers will be able to have the equipment that they need to function where they should. We will start off with about a compliment of eight, for now, and then, when recruit pass out, the number will go to around thirty, so it will have a good compliment of officers.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.