Posted: Friday, December 30, 2016. 4:09 p.m. CST.
By Delroy Cuthkelvin: One of the highlights of Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s New Year’s Address is the commitment to continue investing heavily in our armed forces for the security of the nation, both internally and externally. For emphasis, the PM enunciated this commitment in the conclusion of his address:
“I want to close by saying just a bit about National Security. We have provided both the BDF and the Coast Guard with much additional material, including helicopters, seagoing craft and weaponry. The police are also far better resourced and we have grown their numbers exponentially. Increased funding for our men and women in uniform will continue under CABEI’s Belize Integral Security Program, reaching 10 million dollars next year and 38 million in 2018. We are determined, therefore, to resist external dangers and defeat internal threats. There is no room for lawlessness in our society. And so the bringing of economic and social progress to our people has to be accompanied by relentlessly confronting the culture of gangs, violence and murder.”
This candid acceptance of the challenges that confront the nation as we say goodbye to 2016 and turn a new page into 2017 is a distinct thread that runs throughout the Prime Minister’s New Year’s Address. To put it concisely, the address is an honest assessment of the state of the nation and an optimistic vision and strategy on the way forward.
“In all respects, then, 2017 must be a turnaround stanza as we seek to fulfill the promise of our annual greeting: Happy New Year and God bless Belize,” the Prime Minister concluded
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