New Horizon Belize 2014 comes to an end

A closing ceremony was held today for New Horizons Belize 2014 after the completion of two projects in education and health. Personnel from the U.S. Southern Command were here for two months working along with the B.D.F. and the Ministries of Education and Health to improve health and education facilities. On hand was the new U.S. Ambassador to Belize, Carlos Moreno, who hailed the initiative as a sign of goodwill and cooperation between the two countries. Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

For some time now, Belize has been the beneficiary of the New Horizons Belize project. It brings together personnel from the U.S. Southern Command, the Belize Defense Force, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health to conduct training while personnel build, improves and offers medical services. For the past two and a half months, members of the Light Engineering Company of the B.D.F. and US soldiers have been constructing education and medical facilities in the Belize and Cayo Districts.

Carlos Moreno

Carlos Moreno, US Ambassador to Belize

“I think it shows the level of cooperation between our two governments and the kinds of good things that can come from this kind of cooperative effort. As the Minister said, education is something that once you attain it, cannot be taken away. And I think this building will last decades, maybe a hundred years, but the education from a hundred if not thousands of students who were educated here would be something that can never be taken away from them. And in the long run, will just give Belize just outstanding benefits throughout their lives and the lives of others.”

Thousands of persons have received medical treatment from various clinics through the productive partnership.

Peter Allen

Peter Allen, C.E.O., Ministry of Health

“In this particular instance, we’ve hosted clinics in different parts of Corozal District and Toledo District. We’ve had surgical clinics especially focusing on urology at Karl Heusner and even now as we speak, we have dental clinics still going on in Belize City for full range of services. So we’ve seen through those processes over eight thousand patients, but there are actually close to twenty thousand encounters with patients who have seen different specialties for several things.”

For Commander of the B.D.F., Brigadier General David Jones, the initiative is a constant learning experience for the soldiers who will be back in 2016 for another New Horizon initiative.

David Jones

Brigadier General David Jones, Commander, B.D.F.

“From start to finish for the most part is between one to seventy days; this building in particular it took them only seventy-eight days to build a two classroom building complete with bathroom for males and female and kitchenette area and the rest of the administrative area for the teachers and offices. We try to get it every year, but it’s an expensive venture and they try to share it around the region. But we have already lobbied and 2016, they are going to come back again.”

Newly installed US Ambassador to Belize, Carlos Moreno, says the project has economic benefits to Belize.

Carlos Moreno

“The economy benefits from the ripple effect—not only the purchase of those materials and the employment of the people who work for those suppliers and material men—but also from those hotels and restaurants that these soldiers stayed in. so it is not just the cost of what went into the building of these structures, but also the benefit that the economy had as a result.”

Duane Moody for News Five.