Human Development Update on Hurricane Relief

It’s been almost two months since Hurricane Lisa hit Belize, affecting over five thousand families. While most of the affected persons have received some level of support from NEMO, as it relates to structural damages, there are others who’ve lost their employment and are in need of assistance. Today, News Five asked Minister of Human Development Dolores Balderamos-Garcia about an update from the ministry’s perspective. She says that they have not given up on long-term relief for those who are still affected.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development

“The initial relief, we did really have to wrap that up in terms of the cooperative between the Ministry of Human Development and NEMO. We had to wrap that up just before Christmas. But long-term relief, we have not given up on it because we are still hearing about people whose roofs were damaged or they may not be able to get back to an employment because of Hurricane Lisa. So we don’t give up on that. We make sure that we continue to give the support. And I can mention to you that government did make the decision after the hurricane that in terms of the hardest hit areas of the country, the Belize District, Belize City and Belize rural, we would attempt to give a little more of the allocation of the grocery to families who have most been affected. So you can see the commitment of the Briceño government. Again, we can’t feed everybody, but we made an increase of the grocery bag so that people who have been really affected can get something.”