ComPol Chester Williams: Traffic Backup at Checkpoint a Good Thing

There have been a number of complaints about the backup of traffic on the Philip Goldson Highway in the mornings by commuters coming into the City from Ladyville. That congestion is as a result of a checkpoint near the Vista Del Mar cut-off where officers are stopping vehicles and questioning persons about their movements and purpose of heading into Belize City. The checks are part of the emergency powers regulations of the recently declared state of emergency that limit the movement of citizens. So if you are not an essential worker or not coming to the city for an emergency, you would be turned back. If you are travelling into the City, you are likely to continue to face the delays in the flow of traffic. That’s because the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, says that he applauds those officers because they are being effective in carrying out their duties.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I personally have received a number of complaints about the Ladyville checkpoint. I have been in the line myself and I have waited long in the line, but I am happy to see that the officers who are working at the Ladyville checkpoint are actually doing their jobs because what they do, they ensure that they stop every vehicle and interview everybody coming into the city: where are you going and what will you be doing in the city? If it is that what you are going to be doing in the city, you can do in Ladyville or elsewhere, then they tell you plain – you don’t need to come to the city to do that; you can do that in Ladyville or where you come from. So they are doing what they should be doing. I heard someone said this morning that the police can pull whoever they are interviewing on the side and make the traffic flow. No, you cannot do that; you are defeating the purpose of the checkpoint. This is not an ordinary checkpoint. This is a checkpoint to establish whether or not persons coming into the city do have a good reason to be in the city. And if it is that we are going to achieve the objective of the state of emergency, which is to reduce the amount of people coming into the city or moving cross district, then the checkpoint must do what it what it needs to do.”