Paying At-Risk Young Men through Leadership Intervention Program
Kareem Musa
Today, we found the men cleaning up on Croton Lane. They are doing different communities every week and Minister Musa says that there is already collaboration with City Hall. Now the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industries has also expressed interest. But who’s fronting the bill? The Minister of Home Affairs was asked whether G.O.B. is repeating a previous initiative, by paying some two hundred plus men as a crime prevention tool using tax payers dollars. Minister Musa says that this is not to be confused with what was done by the former U.D.P. administration.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“I don’t recall the U.D.P. doing a project like this and I know that you always saying that we are taking pages out of their playbook. But any of these young men who were part of our state of emergency at prison can tell you for that one month it was a different experience than what they were used to. What they’re used to is oppression and suppression and abuse. That’s an entirely different approach that we are taking now. In terms of the employment, they are actually working. The former administration paid them to hold it down so to speak. But that’s not what young men want. They don’t want a hands out, they want a hand up; they want an opportunity and this is proof that that is all they wanted because they are actually working.”
Reporter
“You are accepting that the state’s purse is paying at-risk young men, as they are called, to work in their communities?”
Kareem Musa
“Yes. Had you gone to the House meeting which was in October, you would have seen that even the opposition, Untied Democratic Party, applauded this initiative. They supported this initiative wholeheartedly.”
Jermaine Garnett
Jermaine Garnett, Lake I Resident
“It benefits the community in a big kinda way cause then each and every one of we could always have wah lee thing to provide for wi family. And everybody try see how best they could work and do weh deh do so we could maintain wi family and thing. So when it comes down to the fighting and the fussing from the people dehn ina society, it noh really push we to the levels to make it bother we, it just give we more stronger and make we fight more better towards dehn people weh just di try see if dehn could bring yo down. But this dah just wah thing fi just show dehn more work, less problem.”
