BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 28, 2022– After the Prime Minister’s two-hour budget presentation in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 15, members of the House met again last Friday to present a budget report for their respective ministries for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
During the presentations, the Minister of Home Affairs and area representative of Caribbean Shores, Hon. Kareem Musa, claimed that under the PUP administration the number of murders in the country has been lowered from what the murder statistics were in previous years under the former UDP administration—except for the year 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, which prompted a nationwide lockdown.
Minister Musa presented a quarterly report drafted by the Joint Intelligence Coordination Center (JICC) that outlined the crime statistics in the country from January 1 to March 24 over the last 4 years.
“[In] 2019 under the United Democratic Party, the number of murders was 38. For 2019, under the UDP the number of murders was 27. For 2020, the very same year that we speak of an anomaly because there was the COVID lockdown in March followed by the 3-months state of emergency in Belize City; [listen to this], under the Leader of the Opposition’s hero, Michael Peyrefitte, murders as of March 24, 2020, stood at 38. And then in 2021, under our administration, murders stood at 22. And today, the murder rate for 2022 is 26,” stated Minister Musa.
The minister went on to throw jabs at the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, and his father, former Prime Minister of Belize, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, and accused the previous UDP administration of neglecting the youths and residents of Southside Belize City during their term in office.
“I listened yesterday, to the Leader of the Opposition say, that in his opinion I was being set up because our ministry’s budget has been cut. Let me tell the member of [Mesopotamia], Madam Speaker, that set up is what you and your father and your administration did to the residents of Southside Belize City. Instead of investing in the people, you were more focused on building roundabouts and eating tacos. The former administration deliberately neglected, abandoned, and created a dire state of dependency [on] the Southside of Belize City for 13 long years,” stated Minister Musa.
In an effort to mitigate crime on the Southside of Belize City, Minister Musa announced that $2.9 million will be allocated for the LIU to help serve at-risk youths in the program, who will be enrolled in life skills programs and will be provided with gainful employment.
“Under the leadership of Mr. William Dawson, the team at the Leadership Intervention Unit, including concerned citizens, educators, pastors, businessmen, and women, we now have 2.9 million dollars dedicated solely to stemming the tide on the gang culture that has ravaged Belizean families and homes. Under this program, Madam Speaker, not only are we providing gainful employment for 300 at-risk youths in our apprenticeship program, but we have enrolled 250 at-risk youths in life skills programs, attending sessions 2 days out of the week, literacy classes, numeracy classes, [and] emotional intelligence. Madam Speaker, there is also a training aspect in small engine repairs, plumbing, and electrical,” stated Minister Musa.
He further stated, “As the pandemic restrictions relax, we will welcome the return of the GREAT program, Cadet program, and ‘Do Di Rite Ting’ program. These are going to complement the ongoing multisectoral approach to crime-fighting. The GREAT Programme, in particular, is tooled as an evidence-based initiative to deal with gangs and violence prevention. The program’s curriculum, which is US-based, is designed with the hope of immunizing our young against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership, but it is focused on reaching them at a vulnerable age before the gang elements do.”
He also made mention of the “Youth to Grow” farm project, using land donated by Dr. Alvaro Rosado. Through this initiative, at-risk youths will be taught to grow their own crops.
Minister Musa additionally announced a basketball tournament to be held on May 7 of this year. He said that so far 14 teams within various communities have already been registered to participate in the tournament, which is being sponsored by Bowen and Bowen in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports.