Amanda, first off, I would like to apologize to you if I in any way offended you. A property tax issue is something that has ramifications countrywide, not just for San Pedranos. I will be honest in saying that it offended me to see your post implying that you and your group would be lobbying for higher property taxes because such a thing goes on to affect every Belizean down the road, not just San Pedro residents. It further offended me when your post was blocked to responses, implying censorship of the masses and a lack of transparency.
After perusing more closely some of the other threads that you have replied to, I realize now that you really are well meaning and sincerely want to help. I don't believe posing a public question and then blocking off responses is/was the way to go, but I am grateful that you do care. Sincerely.
That said, we need to be aware that the Belize Police Department is a NATIONAL police department, not a local municipal one. It is the equivalent of the FBI in the U.S. In the U.S., you don't call the FBI to resolve a local police issue. You call the local policeman who is paid by the local municipality the chief which is elected by that municipality's citizens. Therefore the entire police force is accountable to the residents of the municipality in which they serve.
The BZPD chief, on the other hand, is not elected. He is appointed by the Minister. Therefore, the NATIONAL Belize Police Chief is not accountable specifically to the citizens of San Pedro as he would be if he were elected/put there by the people of San Pedro. He is answerable to the pols at the Belmopan level, technicalities aside. Therefore, his accountability, although we may want it to be to the citizens, is really to his master. Chances are very high that on a daily basis the police minister who is sitting in his office in Belmopan has no idea what is happening in San Pedro. We can sugar coat this anyway we like but this is the situation in little Belize.
I would humbly suggest again that every effort be made to have the first of its kind municipal police department (private security), by and for the people of that municipality, be incorporated in SP. Ambergris Caye is a community of trend setters. There is no reason why it can't be done. And you would be 100% assured that your security force would be working with you to help you achieve your goals. Go one step further and ask for it to be funded by a portion of the hotel tax. Security on SP is a tourism issue and the BTB can/should help to pay for it. The good part is that the hotel tax does not go into that black hole called the Consolidated Revenue Fund run by the GoB. It goes into another hole called BTB projects.
The new CEO in the Ministry of Tourism is a fine young man by the name of Michael Singh. He is a business man, himself the owner of a tourism business on SP. I am sure he would be as interested as you to find a solution. Mr. Singh's email address is
[email protected].
Otherwise, I believe that you will continue to find yourselves frustrated, as many others of us in Belize are, as a result of what will continue to be purely band aid solutions. There is clearly no will in Belmopan to do anything about crime. Decades have proved this. We can also sugar coat this as much as we like.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
