27 Murders in 3 Months

http://www.channel5belize.com/

Street leader: Hanging won’t stop murders
And while police will eventually determine whether Augustine’s death is classified as a homicide, there is no such question regarding the twenty-seven murders recorded during the first three months of 2008. That’s three more than last year’s record pace and while virtually everyone acknowledges we’re in the midst of a crisis, there is little consensus on the reasons behind the deadly violence or how to reduce it. Today News Five’s Marion Ali visited two people who offer a distinct point of view on the issue. Raymond “Killa” Gentle is an ex-convict who says that the popularly expressed desire to bring back hanging will not even begin to solve the problem.

Raymond “Killa” Gentle, Says Hanging Won’t Solve Murders
“Eena dis time now dat the crime rate get high most ah di time when yoh di hear pan di airwave weh da di solution fi deal with deh murders da Belize most people holler hang deh hang deh. But dat can’t be di solution because when deh youths hear bout hang deh just laugh cause deh alone out deh with wah gun da like suicidal. If deh dead out deh with deh gun eena deh hand dat dah weh deh choose fi do so hanging doesn’t matter. Deh youth ready fi dead before ih reach to hang. Understand? So wi have to find wah different solution fi dis thing bout hang, hang. I feel like they have to find sensible job fi do youths weh deh could mek wah lee two fifty, three hundred eena deh pocket and work through each neighbourhood. Just like how deh look pan Raymond Gentle, a.k.a. Killa and seh you da di leader fi Kraal Road same way wah Minister could come in and seh you da di leader fi Kraal Road, we have thirty thousand weh wi want invest eena sports or some construction project and I know you could get x, y, z youth outta dis neighbourhood and get deh fi do something constructive. Nothing like dat noh get presented pan no table fi di youths none at all.”

“I have wah football team right now, Forever Strong Kraal Road Football Team, partly managed by me and Norman “Tilliman” Nunez, manage the team right through the season , never get help from nobody. Far as I know we noh get help by nobody. We come outta di season eena debts. Nobody come and help and seh yeah boy I like si weh Kraal Road di do and I like see how Killa deh pan T.V. or score wah goal or whatever. This happen per week and no wah day you hear pan di talk show somebody give wah credit and seh well we like si weh Kraal Road di do and we like si how they di hold down from dat crime world and play football and hold deh peace. We as somebody weh done mark eena di street have wah problem when ih come to survive off ah small things. We da like wah target to di policeman, due to my past I dah like wa target to the policeman. All weh yoh could tell di youths deh da hold down di badness and thing same way because di way how things di run da only di parents deh di feel. Yoh only could seh that yeh yo kill da one or yoh kill dis yah one and yo feel good because yoh kill da one and dah one but weh yoh think bout ih ma or your ma because if your ma find you get caught up pan wah murder she feel di pain same way as wah mother weh lose wah son.”