7 News Belize

Doctors Ask for A Curfew To Regulate Crime
posted (June 19, 2012)
And while the presence of UNIBAM may unintentionally invite some salacious speculation, for the Doctors who spearheaded today's protest, the issue of their professional colleague's sexuality was not an issue. In fact, one senior Doctor and organizer of the event - told us that Orozco was not invited by the Union to attend or join in.

The Doctors marched because they are genuinely angry about crime - which has now come knocking at their door. In a statement to the media after the protest the President of the Belize Medical And Dental Union, Dr. John Sosa and the NGO representative spoke plainly about society ills and possible solutions:..

Dr. John Sosa
"We can preach about all the ills that have cause us to come to this point but it is now that we have to find solutions and all Belizeans have to contribute to this process. Our entire hospital system is over taxed with the numbers of crime victims and criminals coming through the door. That care is expensive. We need more research on what puts people at risks and how to protect them from violence. Much has been done but more need to be done. We believe that immediately the government should embark on some sort of curfew that is strict and will help the local police as they do not have the resources necessary to be everywhere at all times."

"We are aware that many crimes happen in the daytime but it seems that on weekend nights especially criminals go looking for their victims. If any number of people is deterred from embarking from missions to kill that is a plus. For a month or two the situation could be better controlled with sure a measure."

"We may have lost the generation but we cannot afford to lose the next. The survival of our nation depends on our paving the way for our children and grandchildren."

Joan Burke
"We feel that when violence starts hitting at professionals, it is taking the development of this country further downhill. As NGOs we are affected on a daily basis by crime and violence as well. For many of us who depend on donor funding - many donors no longer wants to work with us. We are challenge by the fact that some deverables we cannot meet because we cannot implement some of our programs because of the crime situation in this country."

"AS I look around and I see the many doctors here today - all that bothers me is that if these doctors should decide to go back to their native land and leave us because if we look around many of the doctors who are here today are not Belizeans. They have left their families back in their native land to come and serve us and if they decide to go back then we would be in serious trouble because we look around in this country we don't have many Belizean doctors."

"I reached out to those who are out there who are committing the crime that they need to stand still and take into account what they are doing to this nation that we call our home. We feel that we are being held hostage by a very few and I think today we must take a stand that we are no longer prepared to be hostage."

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