Prime Minister sits down with gangsters for ceasefire of violence
A wave of shootings and murders over the past month culminated with a grenade explosion that killed a minor just before the New Year. Most of the violence is believed to be the casualties of street wars between rival gangs from George Street, Kraal Road, Supal Street, St. Martins and South Side Gangsters. The leaders of those gangs assembled for a scheduled meeting at the Conscious Youth Development Program’s office in Belize City at three this afternoon. They were there to solidify a truce which they first discussed with Edward Broaster, CYDP’s Director, on New Year’s Eve. The crew bosses said at that first meeting that they wanted no less than the Prime Minister to meet with them and at three this afternoon Dean Barrow had his first sit-down in 2010 with rival gangs.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Basically to try to maintain or continue the momentum that was generated as a result of the new years eve meeting. Mister Broaster told me that the leaders wanted to hear from me personally and that’s how I am here.”
Jules Vasquez, Channel Seven
“Were any concessions agreements, undertakings? What was the nature of this meeting?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“In a general sense I appealed for the maintenance of the peace on a continuing basis and promised that in turn government would try to step up its interventions. You know that Minister Faber heads this inter-ministerial committee and he had actually been physically visiting with people on Kraal Road and Mayflower but as a consequence of his visits, various efforts and assistance in terms of the social difficulties were made. That’s to be expanded. We talked about, in the longer term, what could be done to provide opportunities for employment and for in fact individual business projects that some of them indicated that they had; but all on the basis that good faith required on two sides. We needed to see, over a longer period, a sustained keeping of the peace and to see we are serious about the promise regarding the social and financial interventions that clearly need to take place.”
Jose Sanchez
“Will there be a ceasefire? Have they agreed to it?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“There is a ceasefire. That is what was produced as a result of the New Year’s Eve meeting. I don’t know that that has been broken. Yes they agreed that would continue and as I said government would in turn try to do its part to help to maintain the momentum. There was a complaint about the kind of tactics of rousting neighborhoods but that happens to some extent as a response to the incidence of violence. It was agreed since New Year’s Eve there has been a ceasefire and in turn the police should not continue to pursue that kind of tactic.”
Jose Sanchez
“Were there any discussions about the removal of hand grenades from the streets?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“No, not in this meeting.”
Jose Sanchez
“But that would be for the future?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“I had indicated that government has made some additional resources available to the Police Department so that hopefully they will be able to secure the kind of intelligence that would lead to their being able to find some or all of the grenades and remove them from the streets. So that’s a continuing effort but it wasn’t something that came up.”