Leader of Opposition speaks on crime and evidence bill
The People’s United Party met on Saturday in San Ignacio and settled an agreement to transfer the ownership of Belize Times, Vibes Radio and Independence Hall to a trust to be administered by four trustees. After that meeting, we spoke to Party Leader, John Briceño about currently pressing issue. On the crime situation, Briceño feels the Prime Minister needs to take the lead to find a solution. Briceño also shared his view on the proposed amendment to the Evidence Bill. The changes would provide for statements by witnesses who do not wish to appear in court, to be admissible in evidence. Briceño says the PUP supports all efforts to curb crime, but the amendment might not be the best solution.
John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition
“We, the People’s United Party, we have always felt that when it comes to crime, that’s a non-partisan issue. It is an issue that needs to be addressed by the government, the opposition, the political parties, the churches and the entire community. Unfortunately, the government has been unable to take a grasp as to what is happening. Unfortunately, the Ministry of National Security, despite the fact that we continue to spend more money in fighting crime—we are at about ninety-seven million dollars this year—we seem to be unable to turn things around. I believe that it’s time for the prime minister to take this head on and to convene a group of people that can seriously look at the issues and to address them head-on. It’s no rocket science. We know what are the problems, we know what it is that we need to do.”
“As we mentioned earlier, we in the P.U.P. are going to support any action that the government or any group would take that would help to alleviate the problems or address the issue of crime. When the amendment was made to the evidence bill, we felt that whilst it may help, we don’t know because what they’re saying now is that, as a witness you can go and give your statement and then you don’t have to appear in court. But the other side to that is that once you give your statement, the criminals will know your name, they know your address, they know where you live. So we’re not sure if that’s going to address that situation. I think we need to do even more than what was presented.”
