And while the BDF is prepared to send 50 soldiers to Haiti, the leader of the opposition says maybe the government should be more focused on defending Belize. He added that those soldiers could have been put to better use down at the Sarstoon to protect the BTV against the GAF.
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"Belize can't even deal with its gang members current, Belize cannot even win a court case. Known gang leaders were released from the magistrate court the other day because there was no nexus as to them being gang affiliates and we all know they're affiliated with gangs, whether they have discontinued their behavior, I pray for Belize's safety that they have and everybody has an opportunity to rehabilitate. But again, according to the Minister of Police, he knew who all of the gang leaders and all of the criminals were, according to Chester, he knew who they were, so if these gentlemen were released from the magistrate court are no longer gang members, why did they arrest them? Again, another example of their incompetence and incapacity so when it comes to sending BDF soldiers to Haiti, we need to take care of Belize, we need to fix the gang problem in Belize before we can venture onto Haiti. But I do understand that we are part of Caricom so it is something to consider but I would ask the government to consider fixing the gang problem here in Belize before they could try to put our soldiers in harm's way in Haiti. Before we send 50 soldiers to Haiti, put 50 soldiers at the Sarstoon. Put a makeshift [FOB] at the Sarstoon. The House of Representative authorized over 1 million dollars to build an [FOB], why is there no presence at the Sarstoon? So you want to go to Haiti, meanwhile at the Sarstoon, Guatemalan Armed Forces are taking our flags on tenth of September? The GAF are harassing and intimidating our Belizean men, women and children? But you want to go to Haiti? Let's fix what's happening at Sarstoon."
