It’s a tradition: every year, the Prime Minister serves the armed forces at Price Barracks a special meal. It’s only symbolic but today in his first go at it, Prime Minister Dean Barrow stressed that it is meaningful.

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“The tremendous sacrifices that we know the soldiers of the Belize Defense Force make in order to keep us safe, in order to preserve our territorial integrity. When we get a chance to offer a gesture such as today’s, I think it is very important indeed. These are the people who maintain our territorial integrity, these are the people that in the most practical way maintain our integrity and they do so at tremendous risks to themselves. They have been shot at on a number of occasions and so in a very real way, they literally put their lives on the line. They are soldiers but they are more than soldiers.”

The BDF soldiers were joined by Coast Guard and police personnel.