CITCO launches clean-up campaign
Members of the Belize City Council gathered at a vacant lot on Euphrates Avenue this morning to launch an effort to clean up Belize City, starting this weekend. It will be a big job, but the council says with your help, it can be done.
The clean-up campaign promises a safer and cleaner Belize City by the end of 1999. The campaign, which kicked off in the Queen’s Square Division, is scheduled to last for ten weeks and will encompass all ten divisions in the city.
David Fonseca, Mayor, Belize City
“Today marks the beginning of a massive clean-up campaign that the council is undertaking. Among other projects, this clean-up campaign is a part of the council’s vision to make the city safer, more modern, beautiful, livable and economically stable. We intend to clean up the entire city by taking it one division at a time. With ten electoral divisions we will have ten intensive weeks of cleaning.”
The clean-up, which will be conducted by CITCO, the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Housing will include the clearing of abandoned open lots. Derelict houses will be torn down and replaced, while other homes will be given a facelift. Dickie Bradley, Minister of Housing says it is about time Belize City takes its rightful place as a beautiful part of the country.
Dickie Bradley, Minister of Housing
“If you had seen this yard when the Mayor, the City Manager and I came here a couple of days ago, it would have pained your heart that right in front of a school, where hundreds of children are going, something like this can happen. The message to owners of these yards is that you must keep your yard properly clean and sanitary. The back of that yard is used as a garbage dump. It is filthy; it is unsanitary and the Mayor is going to do something about yards like that.”
But if homeowners think the clean-up will be done for free, think again. Lawrence Ellis, the Sanitation Director says there will be a charged levied against property owners who have abandoned their lots.
Lawrence Ellis, Director of Sanitation, CITCO
“The City Council will be publishing in the papers and notifying all property owners, who have neglected their properties, that we will be cleaning out the properties and we will be placing a fee onto the property tax. We have to estimate what it costs us to do it, the amount of men we use and the amount of days. Like this property for instance is a very big job so we will have to come up with a fee.”
City Manager, Marcia Mahler is calling on the community to assist them in making the campaign a success.
Marcia Mahler, City Manager
“We continue to work on the premise that partnership with the community will help us achieve our objectives. We are calling on the entire community to work along with us on this community clean-up. This is not just to clean up the city one time but to beautify our city and keep it clean.”
For more information on the clean up plans for your area, contact the Belize City Council.
