On a square inch basis, San Pedro Town is the most economically productive area of Belize, excluding the oil wells in Spanish Lookout. But it has 26 police officers to protect a population of 18,000 residents. Break that down into shift, and it's a grossly uneven ratio. And for long, those residents have complained that it just isn't enough.
Those complaints were re-iterated to the Prime Minister when he made a visit to the island town a few weeks ago. And they pressed the right button at the right time: because so close to elections, residents got what they were asking for. Tonight a detachment 25 BDF and special protection unit officers have been deployed to the island. According to a government release, it's an operation focusing on Northern San Pedro which will continue intermittently.
But from the "be careful what you wish for" department - there is one concern: a few residents have told us that the sight of BDF soldiers carrying machine guns in golf cars is not quite what they had in mind to welcome the visitors in the tourism high season.
