Francis Fonseca Says Throwing Money at Crime Problem Won’t Work

Francis Fonseca

This morning, the leader of the Opposition, Francis Fonseca, was asked about the current crisis as it relates to crime. While Fonseca says the opposition is ready to work with the government in efforts to fight crime, he does not believe that throwing money at problem is the way to stop the mayhem.

Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader

“Gang violence is a serious problem, crime and violence obviously is ravaging our society particularly south side of Belize City. So we consider that a very serious matter and as I have always said to Mister Barrow—both publicly and privately when we meet—the P.U.P. is here to support the work of the government in fighting crime. It is a national issue; crime is not a red or blue issue, but we have also criticized the government’s approach to fighting crime and I have made it clear that we believe that the GSU in its present incarnation has lost the trust and confidence of the Belizean people. We do need aggressive fighting force to deal with gang violence, but we have to review the function and performance and role of the GSU as it presently exists and I believe we need to replace it with another security force which can begin anew and regain the confidence and trust of the Belizean people. So I really think that yes we have to try everything, but throwing more money at the problem does not seem to be working. Again we do not seem to be dealing with some of the root problems of crime. There are initiatives that we support in terms of trying to provide employment for some of these gang members. There are initiatives like that that we support, but throwing more money at the problem does not seem to be working.”

Fonseca says that the government should focus more on education and investing more in social programs and to address the root problems of crime.