Crime situation surges on Ambergris Caye

San Pedro Town may be seeing a formation of gangs on the island as two sets of rivals are reportedly at the center of the recent gun violence.  It is a major safety concern since the island is the tourism mecca of the country.  The recent crime has triggered an uproar from both the tourism stakeholders and residents alike. Area Representative for Belize Rural South, Andre Perez spoke on the crime situation and issued assurances that the matter is being addressed with urgency.

Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South: “Let me address it this way this is becoming a sort of an escalation between what seems to be two factors one in San Pedrito and one in San Juan. Last week of course we were graced by the presence of the Minister of Police along with the Commissioner of Police and the regional commander which we have a new regional commander for San Pedro and Caye Caulker which is Commander Lorenzo. We did a visit in Caye Caulker as well to speak with the police department over there, the police. We listened to their concerns and also here in San Pedro we spoke and listened to the concerns as well and very much here we discussed the issue of this rash of shootings that we’re currently experiencing. The police is doing their work, they have leads, they are doing some serious investigation. I don’t want to go into that detail there but they are doing planning to deal with this but using intelligence. So I don’t want to comment on that which is very crucial but I want to highlight the positive aspect of it is that very soon in Caye Caulker the government of Belize has secured funding from CABEI to build a brand new police station in Caye Caulker and that is we’re told if all goes well the construction should begin by December of this year.”

Reporter: But would you be able to reassure the wellbeing of the islanders in light of the shootings ? 

Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South: “Well yes one of the things discussed is there has to be an increase of police officers. I think that at this point in time there is 115 officers here in San Pedro and I think we did discuss the issue of increasing more and also special services that they do the special intelligence that they’re having to have some kind of permanent presence and also an increase in Caye Caulker. Caye Caulker has about thirty five police officers as well and they have already requested some additional five more officers they do need. So rest assured that this government and of course the police department and the ministry is doing their very best to deal with it and I’m confident that we’re going to come down to this and make sure that we keep San Pedro and Caye Caulker a safe place for everyone to come here.”

The Belize Police Department has indicated that additional personnel have been dispatched to Ambergris Caye to assist in the ongoing policing work to reinforce law and order.