The response of the Barrow administration has been to resurrect the same failed policies pursued during the last UDP government arbitrary: detention on suspicion.

We recall the barbaric scenes at Militia Hall when scores of youngmen were caged behind barb wire. No charge, no court, just held in custody on grounds of preventive detention.

Why are we trying to reinvent the wheel with failed policies of the past? What is worse, if the Prime Minister has his way, he will amend the Constitution to deprive people of their fundamental liberties in the name of crime prevention: preventive detention and listening to your telephone conversation/hacking into your internet.

He says he will put in safe guards to ensure that the law is not abused. Such sweet sounding words offer little comfort to the decent law-abiding citizen in the face of an all-powerful regime; a regime that has already bared its ugly claws against innocent workers victimized because they were suspected of supporting the Peoples United Party.

Political victimization is the natural order of things according to Mr. Barrow.

How very different it was during the ten years of the PUP administration when public officials and workers were treated humanely. Blue or Red did not matter so long as you did your job. The government was a government for all the people. Now it is a government that “runs things” for UDP family members, cronies and financial contributors to the party.

The fundamental challenges facing Belize are growing poverty, rising food prices, inequality, youth unemployment, drug trafficking and an ineffective criminal justice system.

At the heart of the matter is that violence breeds violence. Discrimination and political victimization are forms of violence. The prevalence of guns and drugs in a culture that is well on the way to losing any appreciation for the sanctity of human life is the defining character of violence we must now confront.

There is no short-cut solution. Strengthen the programmes already in place: early child care, education, health and security as well as positive alternatives to crime and violence (life skills training, sports and culture). Improve school quality and relevant for students and parents provide “second chances” for youth at risk. Work and increase financing to existing youth service organizations such as Youth For the Future, provide positive role models through nation-wide mentoring programmes, complete the South-side Renewal project.

Instead of wasting valuable time and resources blaming and engaging in vendettas against political “enemies” ease up on the talk, talk, talk and get to work and generate jobs for our ever growing young population.

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