And intakes 96 and 97 will both also be trained with community policing at the forefront, which fits right in with the work of the Leadership Intervention Unit which focuses on gang mediation.
In collaboration with the Department of youth services, and the Tubal Trade and Vocational Institute, the unit today held a Vocational Skills Training Graduation for over 81 young men and women from Belize City.
It's the culmination of a 5-month program that was carefully led by Deputy Commissioner Of Police Richard Rosado and the late William Dawson. And today all that hard work paid off when the graduates collected their certificates and start off on the long road to fulfilling their potential:
Kareem Musa, Minister Of Home Affairs
"Today is the culmination of a 5-month long program in which we partnered with the TUBAL institute to provide vocational training, and specialized training in various aspects, um including cosmetology. So, we do have a lot of females as part of this program, we do have automotive training AC refrigeration and also electrical training and so. Today really is a proud moment, it is a pity that of course, Mr. Dawson is not here to enjoy this moment and to see the graduates. As you know we have been making quite a difference in terms of the violence uh the streets of Belize City in particular for the last few months it has been fairly quiet thank God for that but certainly, I think it is all part of the, all of government approach, this is in conjunction with the department of youth services, the minister of youth and sports, they are also a part of this program and so that is what we are speaking of when we describe this multi-sectoral approach, bringing everybody together, very deliberate, very purposeful in getting out these types of results throughout the young men and women graduating today, proud moment for them and for their families that they are now trained in particular skills."
DCP Dr. Rosado, Executive Member, LIU
"First of all as a country, we want to see greater societal improvement. If we want to see a greater decrease in crimes, I believe we must make a concerted investment in the socially excluded population. I also believe that we must embrace a shared vision In a greater societal improvement, today I'm happy to see that over 81 individuals from the socially excluded population are graduating with marketable skills. I believe this will lead to meaningful income and will increase the opportunity costs of committing a crime. I do believe that the investment today it will benefit individuals and society as a whole and the investments that the government is making and the stakeholders are making is like an insurance policy for greater societal improvement."
And there was resounding applause from everyone in the auditorium when Minister Kareem Musa announced that each of the graduates would receive $1,100.00 earth of tools and materials geared toward the particular skill they had developed during the program.
