Seine Bight seeks equal treatment
While it is clear that significant relief is beginning to arrive in devastated areas, it is also apparent that not all of it is being distributed equally. The imbalance, hopefully temporary, may be justified by many factors…but that doesn’t make it any easier for those who believe they are getting the short end of the stick.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Five miles may not seem a long distance, but for the residents of Seine Bight and Placencia villages has meant the difference between a full belly and an empty stomach. This morning when we visited Placencia residents at a command post we observed them having a hearty breakfast, complete with cocoa. While further north in Seine Bight there was no command post, nor any significant amounts of food to be found. The residents say they have not been receiving any kind of supplies and have had to send a crew fifty miles to Dangriga to buy food and water.
Lucia Lopez, Teacher, Seine Bight
“So we are trying the best, and any vehicle that would come by, I would stop them and negotiate with them. Mr. Canton had sent somebody, he checked with me and I told him that we haven’t received any help, no food, no water. Those who have money send their kids to Dangriga to buy water. We are here stranded as hell.”
There appears be no organised movement in the village to address the situation. It is not certain why it looks as if Placencia has been receiving the bulk of supplies, but things seem to be better organised in Placencia Village.
Karen Young, Member, Placencia Village Council
“We’ve been cooking food since yesterday and who don’t have a stove to cook, they come and eat here. Who has a stove to cook, we give them food to take home, we allow five members of the family to get a bag so they can take home. But if you can’t cook, you come here and you eat here.”
However, tonight we are optimistic that our friends in Seine Bight are finally enjoying a good meal thanks to a huge shipment from Belize Rural South.
Jim Muhammed, Chmn., San Pedro Emergency Organisation
“I’ve been sent down here, sort of a half NEMO personnel over here. We’re going to set up and EOC, which is an Emergency Operations Centre. And as soon as I set an EOC up, we can co-ordinate the relief efforts better. The relief efforts do need documentation, otherwise our sources don’t send it to us because they don’t know if it’s getting to where it’s supposed to get to, so it’s very difficult. I know people need it right now, but we have to have a little bit of administration stuff done before we can issue out all the supplies.”
Muhammed, who will be co-ordinating the relief effort in that area says supplies will be distributed to all the villages affected by Hurricane Iris.
