Residents Clean Up Mayflower/Ghost-Town Neighborhood
The Ghost Town and Mayflower area usually makes the news – and most of the time, it is not for positive stories. But the crime-ridden neighborhood was getting a good clean out today – of garbage. Over the years, loads of garbage has accumulated right in the center of where residents live. The stench and the unsightly and unhealthy pile of waste has been growing over the years and today City Council went in deep digging to get the garbage out. They tried to do it by hand, but the task was impossible and so they got a machine to do the work. This work in the area is part of a larger clean up in the city that started a few weeks back. We spoke to Councilor Willoughby, who led the garbage removal mission, as well as well-known face of the Ghost Town Kendis Flowers about this morning’s exercise.
Philip Willoughby
Philip Willoughby, Councilor, Belize City Council
“We are not only limiting ourselves to what you have seen here but more emphasis because of the duration and the type of garbage we have here; so you can imagine this from an emergency perspective. It will be an emergency within an emergency, so we have to take care of it and it will be dealt with and we will be working along with the young men from within the community. Last weekend, we got a roll off truck from Belize Waste Control and we had a few men from the Belize City Council and we had ten men from within the May Flower area here to try and do it manually – with forks, rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows. But that simply didn’t work. It wasn’t as simple as we thought, so went for backup. We say thanks to Gentrac and Mr. Bevans and we have secured this little Bobcat and we see how quickly we can now do it with automation and mechanization with that little equipment right there.”
Kendis Flowers
Kendis Flowers, Resident, Ghost Town
“These changes mean a lot to we, mamz because fi the past like what we mi di say right, we live in poverty because the area nuh get uplift fi ah while and then we need some assistance years and years and we didn’t get that, so we appreciate the assistance we getting right now.”
Reporter
“How long has the area been littered this way?”
Kendis Flowers
“Quite some years this area been neglected.”
Reporter
“What is it like to live under these circumstances?”
Kendis Flowers
“Well, these kids have to walk through wata fi go to school and when it rain the whole area got wata and some ah the kids deh ketch ground itch, yuh know.”
Andrea Polanco
“Why you think this area deh unda such neglect?”
Kendis Flowers
“Well, I nuh know if dah because the area name Ghost Town, Mayflower, or people look pahn it with disgrace and they neglect the area.”
Andrea Polanco
“Some might say that the residents just as responsible for this garbage because they just throw it right yah weh deh live instead ah dispose of it.”
Kendis Flowers
“Yes. The people or the residents could have disposed of it but likewise the residents need some help too from the Minister or whoever run the area check. The people deh nuh the get no assistance. The people deh nuh have no garbage cans fi put deh garbage and so find wah garbage can fi deh then to see if deh wah help deh self.”
