G.O.B. Extends S.O.E. on Southside Belize for Additional Two Months

While parliamentarians adopted the extension to the period of public emergency in the south side of Belize City, the motion, which was also tabled at the House of Representatives today, was hotly debate.  The continued increase of crime, especially murders, has prompted the Barrow administration to extend the State of Emergency for an additional sixty days. The current S.O.E., under Statutory Instrument ninety-seven, was to expire on August seventh. Since the adoption of that motion in early July, murders in south side Belize City have not decreased. It has worsened and today, the government opted to keep the gang members behind bars for two more months. The People’s United Party criticized the government for its band-aid solution to the problem.

Francis Fonseca

Francis Fonseca, Area Representative, Freetown

“A declaration of a state of emergency was never interned to use arbitrarily or flexibly as a response to rising crime or fighting crime. So these declarations of public emergency must always be use very sparingly and never done lightly because we are dealing with the fundamental rights and freedom of people so there must be proper justification, proper support for doing so.  We want to ensure that our security forces who are responsible for the executive and implementation of these declarations and public emergency that they understand that this is n license to abuse people, this is no permit to arbitrarily or improperly abuse and really violate any rights freedom that our people enjoy.”

John Briceño

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“It is really sad that that one day after we celebrated emancipation day that we are locking down Southside yet another time. In effect we are restricting the movement of black people in the Southside. I think it would have been so much exiting if the government would have come today after emancipation day to come up with a bold and exciting plan as to what is it that we are going to do to fight crime in the Southside. While we are not oppose to what government is going at this time we certainly regret that it has come to this.”