New street signs erected in Belama
Usually, parents would turn to a book in preparation for the naming of a newborn child. But what would you do if you had to name one hundred and one babies? That’s not exactly the problem faced by the Belize City Council, but it did have the task of naming one hundred and one of the city’s new streets. Early this morning the Council started the long-awaited project in Belama Phase One and Two. But where did they find the names?
Danny Madrid, City Councillor
“This was done through the area representative, myself and a committee. We visited different houses in the area and we gave them the names that we would like the streets to be named and the people agreed to it.”
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
Town Planner Froylan Alvarado believes that there should be variety in naming the streets of the city.
Froylan Alvarado, Town Planner
“We have fruits, original residents for example we have the Lauren Burgess Crescent and I guess everybody knows who Lauren Burgess is. We have for example, this avenue that we are standing on is Albert Hoy Avenue. So basically, some streets are named after the people who were the first ones on the street. We want to look at the possibility of suggesting and recommending to the City Council other possibilities.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Like what?”
Froylan Alvarado
“Groups of animals, probably Belizean animals, Belizean fruits, very tropical. We’ll be looking at the possibility of naming streets after trees, and who our heroes are, people who we look up to.”
Other than Lauren Burgess and Albert Hoy, another lucky Belizean to have his name nailed to the framework of the city is the late Sir Alexander “Sandy” Hunter, who once served as a minister and Speaker of the House of Representatives. But the partnership between the City Council and the residents of Belama does not end with placing names on lamp posts.
Danny Madrid
“I’d like to do one appeal to the public since we are putting names on the streets we would ask if people would put numbers on their homes, so it would be easier for everyone to find an address.”
Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.
The need to put numbers on houses applies not just to the Belama area, but to neighbourhoods all over the country. So give the postman a break…and get your number up.
