B.D.F. sets record straight about brawl with at risk youths at Camp Belizario

Lt. Col. A. Loria

Camp Belizario, for the past two weeks, has been the site of a training facility for at risk youths.  A total of thirty teenagers are presently enrolled at the camp where interventions are ongoing.  But the news tonight is that the initiative got off to a rocky start with an all-out brawl involving rival groups being reported within the first few days.  Today, B.D.F. brass invited the media to Central Farm at Camp Belizario to tour the facility and comment on the incident, specifically to set the record straight on what transpired at the barracks.

Lt. Col. A. Loria, Camp Commander

“Firstly, the B.D.F. officers as a general have explained to you the project was kicked off by the Ministry of National Security to have the kids here in Belizario Camp. Initially it was slated to be the Silva but because we don’t have the logistical resources it was then decided that the kids will be housed here in Camp Belizario where I am the commander. So the program started about two weeks, tomorrow will make it two weeks that they have been here. And we have started to show them good things, not all that they are facing is bad so we recognize that they are kids that hang out in Belize City that were brought here. In the first day it was difficult to try to mold them into somebody better, everybody were talking together, they were not listening, they were not following or obeying the orders that was given to them. That’s okay because it’s their way of life was different and it is not one that discipline was expected. So now into that brawl into that silence the soldiers have offered the kids. We got an initial thirty kids that ages range from eleven to sixteen. They were here for about a week and then another group of fourteen were brought but they were a little older, they were about from sixteen to eighteen years of age. As they arrived on camp they started to tell remarks to the group that was already here that they will run things and they immediately formed two gangs and in the evening they went into a full brawl and my instructors were caught in that brawl. It was a big fight in the dining hall, the chairs was flying all over the place and it was really unfortunate, one of my instructors he had his arm, I don’t know if it’s fractured.”

Brigadier General David Jones, BDF Commander

Brigadier General David Jones

“This camp is on for just about two weeks now. It’s an initiative from national Security to get some of the kids who are included in violence probably entrapped by some of the gang members to commit crimes in the streets of Belize City to come here into our care for a month perhaps about six weeks to get some sort of reform. Change the mentality and think about something different instead of resorting to violence. So we will have them for four weeks, so while they are they will be going through a discipline program here apart from our soldiers being with them we have professional in who have experience in counseling, anger management, psychology, try to find out what their problem is address it ina more peaceful way. So by the time we are finish with them here and go back into society they are better individuals and at least they may be prone into changing their mentality from going towards violence instead of solving problems peacefully.”

Isani Cayetano

“Is this four week course is it the minimum or maximum time or can it be extended? How does it work?”

Brigadier General David Jones

“Well for the mean time it’s only for four weeks because the kids for the most part have to go back to school because we don’t want them to be deprive of their education. Some of them may be extended to six weeks but this will be because these extra kids are not going back to school. It will only be a few of them who may remain who will continue the program for another six weeks but it’s going to be a pilot project, depending on how it work we may continue it. But the long term goal is to have this program actually establish in the mountain pine ridge area where it will be either a one year or a two year stay for who may be sent to that facility.”