Pink & Purple Tights…

By: Mike Rudon Jr.

With all due disrespect to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, the image which comes to my mind when I imagine him engaged in a war against crime is that of a little big eared, bald headed and knobby-kneed elf in pink and purple tights swatting a gold papier-mâché wand at a 3,000 pound rampaging rhinoceros. Hey, maybe this graphic image is influenced somewhat by my dislike for the ostentatious fellow, but I’m sure the point gets across anyway. Use your image or mine – the results are the same. The PM, whether in elegant Armani or punkish pink and purple, has done absolutely nothing to curb the crime situation in Belize. He has done nothing to encourage residents to feel a little bit safer in their homes. He has done nothing to put a stranglehold on criminals, nothing to positively address the serious social conditions which lead to increased violence and crime, nothing to improve criminal legislation, nothing to improve the judicial system, nothing to strengthen the DPP’s Office. Hell, to make a long story short, Mr. Barrow has done nothing good – period!

Usually I’d waste a little time bashing the Minister of Police right about now, but in reality that is all it would be – a waste of time. Doug Singh was appointed a couple months ago and has followed the example set by his boss. He has done nothing, unless you count ogling police officers. He has been a joke from day one, but nobody expected anything of him anyway, and that’s just what they got.

I was in a barber shop the other day and the talk is that murders have just about gone up to one a day and it’s going to get worse. Just this weekend there were four murders, one of them a young female. And that’s only murders – every situation report sent out by the Police Department is chock full of shootings and robberies and assaults and burglaries. The sense on the street is one of hopelessness and despair and desperation. It’s hard enough to find food to put on the table – added to that our citizens have to live in constant, paralyzing fear. Nobody knows where to turn.

Do you know where the Prime Minister was this weekend? He didn’t have to worry about crime and poverty and frustration and desperation and anger on Belize’s streets. Mr. Barrow was in Los Angeles, being feted in grand style. In fact, it seems like Mr. Barrow is gone a lot of the time, attending grand balls in one country, doing the cocktail circuit in another, speaking at fancy dinners in yet another. Hell, foreign newspapers are full of pictures of Belize’s Prime Minister and his wife, both smiling fit to burst and dressed in the most elegant and costly of evening wear. They’ve both been pictured with glasses of fine champagne in hand, seated at some table or the other in some luxurious setting with some fancy meal or the other in front of them.

That’s quite a long way from the reality on our streets, Mr. Prime Minister. We haven’t seen too many pictures of you walking on miles of London Bridges or talking to people living in the most squalid of conditions right here in your city of residence. I guess your favourite Armani suit wouldn’t photograph too well in front of a broken down shack like those in which the people you promised to serve are forced to live.

I listened to a live broadcast of the Prime Minister from a Town Hall in Los Angeles, where he was speaking to a gathering of Belizean-Americans. His presentation, as always, was awesome. He handled that crowd like a maestro with a world class orchestra. His reply to questions were practiced, his verbal riposte superb. The man is a master. Ain’t no two ways about it! But the thing is, for the life of me I couldn’t figure out which country he was describing. There is no way in hell he was talking about Belize – nope. Everything is just honky dory in the country Mr. Barrow was talking about. In that country things are well in hand and there is no corruption to speak of. Yeah, there’s crime but hey, they’ve got that s##t under control and are going to restore Belize. Restore my A$$!

Crime is out of control in Belize. It’s passed out of control. It’s worse because the Police are not given the resources to tackle the job and they have to take orders from a sissy minister who wants them to run races and do pushups with him. Our entire justice system is a joke. The DPP’s office is a joke. The biggest UDP crime fighting initiative in more than two years is a song called I Am Belize. Yup, that’s right, a song. Unless Mr. Barrow decides to spend the rest of his term touring other countries to impress them with his eloquent prose, he will get the sense of this demon he has spawned. With violent crime going up, up, up, it’s only a matter of time before it comes calling at your door, buddy – only a matter of time!

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