By Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. May 5, 2022
On Wednesday, May 4, the United Democratic Party (UDP) held a press conference to address some of the major issues and challenges facing the country.
The primary focus of the press conference, which was headed by UDP leader Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, who was accompanied by UDP chairman Michael Peyrefitte and newly appointed UDP senators Beverly Williams and Anthony Herrera, was the surge in crime in the country, which the UDP says the Briceño administration has failed to address, as well as corruption in government and the upcoming village council elections.
During the conference, UDP chairman and Shadow Minister for National Security, Senator Michael Peyrefitte, pointed to the number of murders in the first four months of the year—with 43 murders being recorded during that period this year, whereas in 2021, from January to April, there were 30 murders.
Peyrefitte then attributed the increase to a lack of competence on the part of the Police Minister, Hon. Kareem Musa, and called for his resignation, but he further went on to suggest that the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, should resign from his post as well.
“We repeat our call for the Minister of Police and his CEO to resign. I called for the resignation of the Minister and the CEO repeatedly, because when it comes to the national security apparatus, he only has one responsibility, you know. That’s the police, just police… We are looking at a situation where you have a person with one portfolio [who] can’t perform, has not the respect of the Police Department, has not the respect of the citizenry, and not the respect of those people who should fear the national security apparatus, and I’ll say something else; I’ll add to that. And it’s not an easy add for me to say. This man has come from far; he has done well for himself, he’s a hard worker, he’s tenacious, but people, he is not getting the job done. The Commissioner of Police also needs to consider, look within himself, and think whether or not he needs to step aside and give way to some new blood. He’s not cutting it. In my view, the Police Department needs a new Commissioner. It needs to be shaken up,” said Peyrefitte.
Commissioner Williams responded to Peyrefitte’s suggestion in a social media post on Wednesday, May 4.
“Some people stay in a corner and pray for crime to increase, with the hope that they can get on board a political tide to take them where they want to be. The complexity of crime requires a multi-sectoral approach, and that is why our Minister and our department have teamed up with other ministries and departments to form a multi-sectoral approach to fight crime. Yes, we cannot expect this approach to erase all the damage that was done for over a decade,” stated Williams.
The Police Commissioner further remarked in the post, “… I am happy that I have served as Commissioner under both political parties and know what both crime-fighting strategies are. This is what makes the situation seems rather political, the fact that the messenger knows well that the crime problem existed before and that during his time as minister we did a lot to address it and it still persisted then. So how now does he expect it to just go away?”