I like it. A better name for the undertaking by the government could not have been chosen. Restore it to what? Restore it to when? I suggest restore it to what it was in 1984.
In 1984 the people of Belize were not pleased with the government of the People’s United Party. Also, that government had been in power since and before self-government. The People’s United Party government had always ruled. Why 1984? Because the drug lords were under manners. There was a Deputy Prime Minister, who was Minister of Home Affairs, and no drug lord wished to personally offend the Deputy Prime Minister. Today, he would have been offended by the number of individuals who are believed to have been terminated with extreme prejudice, on the direction of those who rule the drug trade. Also, he would have been offended by the amount of freelance armed violence activity, for which he would have held the drug lords, directly or indirectly, responsible.
In 1984, the people were beginning to notice that crimes of violence, which were increasing over the years, were reaching uncomfortable levels but, it could be tolerated. There were gangs but, they were yet to be organized and armed for the purpose of carrying and the orders of a directorate. The citizens would be happy if one of the objectives of government’s program to restore Belize was to reduce violent crime to the levels of 1984.
I think the people of Belize, unlike the people of America who support the Republican Party, would like our government to succeed. Even the supporters of the People’s United Party. Certainly, all right thinking citizens, of whatever political persuasion, want the government to succeed because, we know that we are all in the same boat and, if it sinks we will perish together.
Permit me to digress by asking this question. How can a fledgling little democracy like Belize understand this and the two-hundred-year-old democracy called America, cannot. I think it is fair to judge the American electorate by the pronouncements of two of its popular media personalities, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. They declare that they would like their President to fail. We Belizeans would like our Prime Minister to succeed.
I believe that “Operation Jaguar” was the first move in government’s plan to Restore Belize. I think it was an exercise in crime prevention in a specified area. Was it successful or not? The critics say it was a failure because the criminals “cooled it” in the area of the “Jaguar” operations and, carried on as usual elsewhere in the city, which was to be expected. This is obvious.
A friend of mine used to call people who stated the obvious, “Columbus’, meaning that The Great One discovered something which was already there. Not fair to Columbus but, his point is well made. I have some respect for government’s planners. So the exercise must have been useful. The people would like to know more about the plan to Restore Belize. As far as I am concerned, what matters is that government takes action and, that the result of such action is a significant reduction in the crime rate and, that the improvement continues until the society is what it was in 1984.
Over the years the number of young people who have no occupation, are unemployed and not attending any educational or vocational institution, has been increasing, along with the levels of juvenile delinquency and criminal activity in general, to the point where government saw the need to deal with the matter in a comprehensive way. The Prime Minister decided to appoint a Crime Commission in September 1991 under the chairmanship of the Honourable Glenn Godfrey, Attorney General. The names of the other members of the commission which produced the 1992 Crime Commission Report, of which they should all be proud are: Darrel Carter, businessman, Deputy Chairman; Michael Young, attorney-at-law; Sylvia Flores, educator and Mayor of Dangriga; Belizario Carballo, Principal of Muffles College; Bernard Bevans, Commissioner of Police; Yolanda Murray, Police Inspector; K. B. Smith, retired civil servant; and C. B. Hyde, retired civil servant.
The Crime Commission’s 1992 report was well received by the government, which promised to implement the recommendations contained therein. They did in fact implement a few of the recommendations but, decided against taking action on the major ones for reasons never divulged.
I wish to pay tribute now to my fellow members of this commission. They were, without exception, a very serious-minded, dedicated and hard working team. Special tribute is due to Darrel Carter, who chaired almost all the large number of meetings held countrywide and in Chetumal and Michael Young, who did most of the work and put the report together.
I am asking the publisher of Amandala by this article to publish the Report in serial form and, you will see for yourself whether many of our social problems could have been avoided.
About the drug trade and the terrible price our society is paying for the success of those who preside over it, I should like to say that a strong, determined and able Minister of National Security could do a lot, by personal intervention, to bring pressure to bear on those who are directly or indirectly responsible for the present state of affairs.
The war on drugs declared by America, in which we are perforce engaged, is, in my not so humble opinion, not winnable. If it were, victory would have been achieved long ago. It is not winnable in my not so humble opinion, because those who benefit from the trade do not want the war to end and, their name is legion. So. It has to continue but, can’t it be more civilized? I think it can.
One of the reasons why winning the war against the drug trade is almost impossible is that it is profitable. It is so profitable because it is illegal. Its illegality makes it comparatively scarce and stimulates demand. Demand increases the prices. Basic economics. If it were legal, the supply would be plentiful and the price low. I apologize for again stating the obvious. Almost everyone knows this. But because it is so profitable, there are funds to pay for complicity. Very few can resist the blandishments. So, you could say that the law engenders corruption. The longer the law exists, the more citizens will become corrupt, except the incorruptible. There are such people but, they are a disappearing species.
What’s to be done? Our cause seems hopeless. To Restore Belize is a daunting task. Do we give up or sound a call to arms? “Arise ye sons of the Baymen’s clan.” To begin with, we could give our fullest support to the government’s program to Restore Belize. A good target would be to restore it to what it was in 1984.