Looking for Solutions to Crime…

The last week of September proved to be a very bloody and murderous period in the history of our jewel.  The sadder part is that there seems to be no end to this trend.  And even though many enlightened newspaper writers and talk show hosts and participants seem to have the solutions, in the end, these solutions turn out to be only words.  Nothing positive and concrete happens.  Even the government is clueless, lost or even nonchalant about this excruciating curse that has befallen us.

Our nation is in big trouble and the general population seems to ignore it as if it will pass away someday.  Maybe it will pass away, but not before many more of our youths are senselessly slain on our already sanguinary streets.  As long as the wave of violence does not crash on our personal shores, most of us seem to just bury our heads in the sand and then get along with life as if nothing has happened.  Many times we see where the root of the problem lies and we do nothing about it because the root of such evil is a powerful, wealthy and well-connected elite in our society, whose wealth has amassed upon the deaths of our youths and the grief of our mothers.

We all know that guns are not made in Belize.  Yet, guns on the streets have become as common as bread on the store shelves.  Where and how does a 16-year old youth get a brand new 9 mm gun that values around $2,000.00, when he does not even have a job, a profession or a trade?  Even a blind man will see that it can only be some wealthy people that are bringing in those weapons and distributing them throughout our unemployed and vulnerable society.  And these people are “untouchable” because, as the streets know, these high and mighty fellows have lucrative connections to some people in the highest echelons of our government and internal security forces. Yet, even though it is so simple to see, it is difficult to destroy that root of evil because it is composed of too many connections which are too lucrative to tamper with.

Therein lies one of our greatest problems.  The people that bring in and control the guns are rich and powerful; and they are protected by some high people in high places in our government and police.  This merger of evil intimidates the ordinary citizen, who then prefers to seem indifferent and keep reticent about the injustices he sees, for fear of reprisals and as long as the violence does not affect his personal life.

The other component of our problem is the fact that too many of our youth of school age are not attending school for some reason or the other.  According to Mr. Patrick Rogers, he cites a report of the Ministry of Education as saying that 55% of our school age population is out of school.  This is a serious indictment of our system and our government.  When did we fall into this chasm without noticing it or without caring about it?

It is high time that the government takes a serious decision to make education universal for all Belizeans.  Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money in trying to force through highly controversial and divisive changes to our constitution and to our education act, the government should enshrine in our constitution an irrevocable commitment to ensure that all Belizeans receive a mandatory education regardless of their economic, social, or political status.  The government will be mandated to deliver education to our young citizens; and these young citizens will be mandated to attend school and receive an education. And this must start now!  This has been happening in Cuba for almost 50 years and it has been successful.  All we need is the will of our leaders.  Do you see Cuba experiencing violent social problems as here in capitalist Belize?  Have you met a Cuban that is not educated?  Have you met a Cuban that cannot read, write or reason?  Of course not!  Cuba has been doing the right thing in education for almost 5 decades and it is now time that we the Belizean people face our problems head on and make education universal as the first significant step in solving our grave youth problem.

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