Camp Oakley receives a makeover
They learn the skills involved in camping out in the great outdoors…but their own camping centre near Burrell Boom has deteriorated to the point where the word rustic is a compliment. News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams dusted off her old scouting expertise to see how the situation is being turned around.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
Camp Oakley, the only established campsite for scouts and guides, is getting a much-needed facelift. Thanks to the efforts of the British Overseas Aids Programme.
Major Bill Bilous, Comdr. Jersey Field Squad
“The development of Camp Oakley started as an extension of the interest of the British Forces here in Belize to aid community projects where they can. And when I was here in January the structure of Camp Oakley was shown to me and it became instantly obvious that I could develop the site to make it more user friendly for the scouts of Belize.”
The site, located near Burrell Boom, is named after a former U.S. diplomat Oakley, who acquired the land from government to build the facility in the 1950’s. But it wasn’t until 1969 that the area begun to take shape.
The first structure to be erected thirty-three years ago was the mess hall. Today, it’s also the first to be repaired. According to Staff Sergeant of the Royal Engineers, Andrew Anderson, they first had to strip the old roof.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Anderson
“Next, we cut all the for the new roof out of new timber, which is specially treated, and now we’re putting it together piece by piece onto a jig and finally for erection to the roof.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“I’m concerned as to how strong the roof, because a campsite like this should be built to withstand the elements and hurricane.”
Staff Sgt. Andrew Anderson
“Yes, certainly. Normally, you use very wide gaps between your trusses. We’ve halved that and we’ve actually doubled the amount of timber that’s being used in each of the trusses.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“So it’s very, very strong?”
Staff Sgt. Andrew Anderson
“Engineers always build things to last.”
The roof is not the only thing they’re building during this month-long tour of duty.
Major Bill Bilous
“The other task that we’ve got, we’re building an ablution, that’s showers, toilets, and washing facility, supported by a water storage tank that will be suspended a few metres in the air.”
The eighteen men and two women, most of them serving army personnel, along with a few young British civilians, have braved the elements since last week to assist scouting.
They usually start at 8:30 in the morning with the raising of this camouflage net to provide some much-needed shade.
Lately, however, they’ve set up this contraption to keep their tools from getting rained on. National Scout Executive, Hilberto Riverol, says the refurbishing of Camp Oakley is long overdue.
Hilberto Riverol, Nat’l Scout Executive
“For a quite a while we were trying to get funding and assistance to refurbish the main building out here and also to build additional facilities. It took a while, but it’s finally here and we’re very excited about it and we’re looking forward to the completion date.”
Which is sometime in July, when four hundred scouts who will be having their national camp will be on hand to assist the Royal Engineers with the finishing touches. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
