Bella Vista gets new health centre

Bella Vista Village in the Toledo District has a new health centre. The two-storey building measures over two thousand, four hundred square feet and was built to withstand a category five hurricane and inaugurated on Wednesday. The ground floor of the building will house the clinic, while the upper floor will be used as living quarters for doctors and nurses. The European Union’s Banana support programme provided two hundred and thirty thousand, six hundred and seventy-seven dollars for the construction, while ninety-four thousand, six hundred and thirty-three dollars were provided by government through a loan from the C.D.B. Speaking at the ceremony, E.U. Ambassador Marco Alemani reported that the centre is only one of the many projects they are undertaking in southern Belize.

Marco Alemani, E.U. Ambassador
“I understand that this clinic is going to benefit directly about seven hundred families in this region. It’s also an example of the many socioeconomic projects that we are now financing through the social component of our Banana Programmes in the Banana Belt. Other projects have been recently implemented in this community and I would like to cite the construction of primary schools here and in three other communities, the construction of a water supply facility at Cow Pen, the extension of the health centre at San Juan and the opening of the Toledo Teacher’s Credit Union to support private initiatives in the Banana Belt.”

Pablo Marin, Minister of Health
“The health of our people is the foundation for a productive and healthy economy. This beautiful health centre represents another huge step forward in fulfilling the promises of my government.”

Marco Alemani
“These achievements reflect, not only an excellent collaboration, but also an excellent collaboration between all the parties involved in the project, but also a common vision and a genuine commitment upon the development of Belize, a commitment that we share with the government of this country.”

Social Investment Fund implemented the project on behalf of G.O.B. In the next few months further funding from the E.U. will see the construction of high school buildings and adult skills training activities. The E.U. is expecting to invest twenty-two million Belize dollars in the banana belt as they seek to strengthen the socioeconomic growth in southern Belize.