BELMOPAN, Fri. Sept. 28, 2018– The Barrow/Faber-led United Democratic Party government has passed a string of legislation to tackle the ever-growing crime problem that Belize has been experiencing for some years now, but one law that the government continually amends is the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act.
Notwithstanding the stiffer penalties under the law, however, the government has been unable to curb crime and that is essentially what the Lake Independence area representative and deputy leader of the Opposition People’s United Party (PUP) Hon. Cordel Hyde took the government to task for at today’s House of Representatives meeting.
Hon. Hyde noted that the Crime Control Act has been amended almost a dozen times since 2008 when the UDP was first elected — with no tangible result.
“I believe this must be the tenth or eleventh time we are here since 2008, bringing amendments to either the Crime Control or Criminal Justice Act or the Criminal Code. I think we first had amendments in 2008, twice in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017 and this is the second time in the last five months we are having amendments and not much has changed really,” Hon. Hyde told the House.
He added, “Every time we come here, you get the impression that well, okay, these are some stringent measures to be tough on crime and to be tough on the criminals and in fact, it was, I believe, in April of this year that we passed some sweeping legislation that would see gang leaders and gang members get up to 40 years in prison if they are convicted of being leaders of gangs and members of gangs or participate in criminal activity in gangs.”
“Every year, in and out, we make these amendments, but year in, year out, the level of crime increases in this country. I think that instead of these kinds of amendments what we really should bring to this House is legislation to attack the root causes of crime,” he said.
Hon. Hyde then remarked, “In fact, what I would really like to see is legislation declaring a war on poverty. If we are not going to come to this house and quadruple the budget for Boost or quadruple the budget for the Pantry Program and ensure that every single child in the South Side gets to go to high school and that their fees are paid and that they do not go to school hungry, these are really just cosmetic changes, Madam Speaker. I know it is kind of cliché to say we attack the root causes of crime, but we have to. Unless poverty goes down, crime will continue to go up, breda; real talk.”
The Collet area representative and acting Prime Minister, Hon. Patrick Faber, responded to Hyde, saying: “This government has launched the greatest attack against poverty than any government before.”
Hon. Faber, however, did not specify what he meant by the greatest attack against poverty.
The Belmopan area representative and Minister of National Security, Hon. John Saldivar, said, “The reason behind this bill was simply to ensure that gang members who commit offences under the various criminal justice and gang offences within our current laws that they be restricted from obtaining bail immediately and that they would have to go through the same sorts of requirements as those who, for instance, are caught with firearms or ammunitions, that there be a ten-day waiting period before which they can apply for bail and they must apply for bail to the Supreme Court.
“That is all this bill is seeking to do. In the meantime, since we have introduced those major bills in April, we have found a gang task force that has been working diligently putting together the case files for many or most of these gang members, whom we believe will have a strong case against them in terms of offences that they have committed under the various gang laws of this country. That task force is now ready to begin prosecution of these gang members on these various offences.”