City residents trapped by muddy streets
While many of us were thankful for the rain of the past few days, grateful for the relief in these dry times, for some the rains brought back an old problem that despite their repeated cries for help, is still with them. Once again, News Five went back to a portion of Belize City where the residents are sick and tired of deplorable living conditions.
Jacqueline Woods
?Noise pollution and litter are not the only problems home owners, like myself, living in residential communities have been fighting against without much success. Close to thirty residents living in the area of Levi Slusher Extension are literally stuck in the mud.?
The residents who all reside in the Port Loyola Division in Belize City cannot walk out of their houses without getting covered with dirty soft red clay that was once their street that has now reduce to nothing but muck
Allen Logan, Area Resident
?That is very frustrating, knowing that you got to get out, if you get out then before you go to work you are very muddy and you cannot go to work or school in a muddy condition. Your bike cannot get out, if you have a vehicle you get stuck.?
Delfino Rodriguez, Area Resident
?So many years from Independence we no see no head way. Why in the first place these people gone gain independence when we noh have a good defence system, we noh have jobs, we noh have good education, a lot of things that. This really is a sad situation to see we all be living like this.?
On Thursday many of the school?s children could not attend classes because there was simply no way out from the neighbourhood. Many of the area?s drivers have had to park their vehicles because the streets are impassable. The families say it has not only been emotionally frustrating for them, but the mess will financially cost them.
Angela Flowers, Area Resident
?How long can we back two shoes and got to work with a muddy shoes or leave our shoes out there and hope that in the evenings we will come back and find our shoes out there??
Last November area representative Anthony ?Boots? Martinez and Minister of Works Jose Coye and representatives of the Belize City Council toured the area after it had become inundated with water. That visit did bring some relief to certain areas, but these residents are feeling left out and abandoned and are appealing for help because they say the rainy season is fast approaching and they do not want to see history repeat itself.
Lavern Simplis, Area Resident
?Like when it was not raining they noh worry bout come fix the street because it?s hard. And now it start to rain and we di get affected again because the road easy fi get wet and easy fi get sticky. So we really need them fi come fix the road because dah noh only the people weh they fix their road di get affected, we di get affected also.?
Angela Flowers is one area resident who has had enough. Flowers, who has been at forefront for change in her neighbourhood, says some of the residents prefer to suffer in silence, but she believes their rights to basic infrastructure have not been met and she has no choice but to speak out against the injustice.
Angela Flowers
?Look at our streets. We are asking for help, we are asking for a shell, anything that could accommodate us until they feel like fixing our street the proper way. We are not asking for a paved road. We are asking just for a shell to put over our street so that we and our children can go to work everyday and go to school the proper way. Look at us, everyday now before the rainy season come; we won?t even be able to walk on the street. So how are we supposed to go out and go to our jobs? We can?t go to their doors and beg them for money because they don?t even want to accommodate us with nothing right now.?
All parties had agreed that something urgently needed to be done to alleviate the flood and upgrade the streets and had promised to upgrade the roads including some drainage. So what happened?
Anthony ?Boots? Martinez, Area Representative
?Well works were supposed to have been done over this side and over the other side. But apparently they only worked over the other side and this side was left this way. Last week I came out here personally, I met Mr. Grant from City Council out here and he said that they were looking to see how they can address the situation. They came and grade it last week and they should have put some stone on it, but nothing happened.?
?It?s really frustrating because this situation was drawn to the attention of the government from 2004. I don?t know if you recalled, but I prepared a constituency budget and if you see on this paper I have the same street, Levi Slusher Street upgrading and drainage and since then nothing has been coming forward. We have been running behind them, up and down, up and down. Finally, a resident came to see me Wednesday morning, the same time the lee rains come down and I said I am continuing to pursue the matter, but in real truth everything is out of my hands. I did everything I should have done.?
However, Martinez says he remains committed to his division and has since received assurances from the Belize City Council and the Ministry of Works.
Anthony ?Boots? Martinez
?I saw Mr. Coye on Tuesday of this week and told him of the situation and he gave me an appointment for next week Wednesday to come. Nevertheless, this morning I was at a meeting in Belmopan with the Lands Department and I met with Mr. Magana from City Council. Knowing what the situation was yesterday and the day before, I told him about it and he said come in on Monday and mek we see if we could get some stone on the street. It is really frustrating because this situation was drawn to the attention of the government from 2004. I don?t know if you recalled, but I prepared a constituency budget and if you see on this paper I have the same street, Levi Slusher Street upgrading and drainage and since then nothing has been coming forward. We have been running behind them, up and down, up and down.?
The residents not only have bad roads but a great number of them have no access to water and electricity. However Martinez says he can assure his constituents that help is on its way.
Anthony ?Boots? Martinez
?We as representatives, the representative for Port Loyola, Lake Independence and Collet sits on the technical working team for the south side project and I must be honest that we have already put in?WASA has already put in the estimate to P.U.C., waiting for it to be approved. The lights, government has already secured the funding for it; B.E.L. has already gotten the order to do the job. So in terms of Jane Usher Boulevard, the lighting situation will be better shortly. The water, I believe, is in process. And I think it?s a coordinated effort, we just have to make sure that we deh on top of things.?
When we contacted Minister of Works Joe Coye, he told us that the situation falls under the jurisdiction of the Belize City Council and that his ministry only assists towns and the cities when it is necessary. We tried to get a confirmation from the city engineer Rick Magana about what the City Council intends to do, but he did not return our call.
