Cabinet talks tough on crime

It has all the earmarks of reinventing the wheel, but Cabinet this week finally decided that fighting crime is so important that the Prime Minister will personally spearhead a set of initiatives to fight it. P.M. Said Musa will chair a ministerial committee consisting of Dolores Balderamos Garcia, Dickie Bradley, Mark Espat and Maxwell Samuels. That group will probe the causes of crime and propose solutions, having first consulted with the citizens most affected. Among the more immediate proposals being considered are the appointment of more magistrates, closer liaison between police and private security personnel, skills training for at risk youths, legislation requiring criminals to compensate their victims financially, the raising of police morale and image and a greater emphasis on community policing.

Other decisions by Cabinet include the imposition of stricter regulations on liquor licensing and the conversion of Central Farm into a research institute. It has also given the green light to investigate the transfer of management of the post office to private Belizean hands. And in case anyone was wondering, newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Assad Shoman did occupy his seat at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.