The P.U.P.’s Long-term Plan for the Youths of Southside Belize City

The Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño, on Wednesday, criticized the government’s decision to declare a state of public emergency in two gang areas of south side Belize City. Briceño says that the murderous weekend that gave way to the emergency measures was the direct result of G.O.B.’s abandonment of the area and that the proclamation does not attack the root cause of the problem.  The People’s United Party has developed a plan to address the socio-economic ills faced by the residents of the area. That initiative entails engaging two thousand out of school youths for two years with the hopes that they will change their lives for the better.

John Briceño

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“The idea is that we want to start off with about two thousand young people that are not in school. We want to bring them and have them as part of the service corp. For the first six months they will be living together. We will be housing them together. For six months we want to give them discipline, exercise, waking up early in the morning and do some exercise. We then want to give them basic Math, English, Writing, Literacy for six months. And then for one year we want to give teach them a trade be it an assistance for a plumber or to an electrician or auto mechanic and train them for one year. For the last six months we want to put them in an apprenticeship where we want them to assign them to a business where they can go and practice for the last six months. So that we hope that in two years, we are going to be holding on to these young kids, boys and girls, and have them in a structured life of discipline of work and learning and fun too because we will have sports as a part of it. So that in two years, we believe, that when they come out they will have the sense of discipline, the sense of belongingness and have a trade where then they could find a meaningful job.”