Belize’s foremost developer near death

There is no shortage of people in this country who talk about building Belize. However, the list of those who actually build as opposed to talking about it is exceedingly short. Unfortunately, that list is about to get even shorter as one of the nation’s most productive developers tonight lies on his deathbed. Javier Berbey Garcia first came to Belize in 1976 at the behest of Panamanian president Omar Torrigos and Belizean Premier George Price. Among Berbey’s earliest projects were the reclamation of Belama, now known as Buttonwood Bay and construction of a hundred houses in Ladyville. Over the next few years his Bella Vista Development Company reclaimed land and established infrastructure for government in the Collet and Lake Independence areas of Belize City, while still finding time to create Belize’s first successful private housing development at Bella Vista off the Northern Highway. Forty-two two-storey concrete homes were built and while they sold for prices that today would be considered low income, their present value has soared to several hundred thousand dollars and beyond. Since that time the pace of Berbey’s work expanded to include projects all over the country, reaching a peak with the development of Vista del Mar in Ladyville. With a network of wide canals and over a thousand lots–three hundred and fifty with houses either built or under construction– Vista del Mar remains the nation’s most ambitious housing project. Several years ago Berbey was stricken by cancer and although given just a few months to live, regular treatments in Cuba allowed him to survive and continue working productively. Despite his many accomplishments, the career of Javier Berbey Garcia has not been without controversy. He is as rabid a PUP supporter as any who ever said “Que Viva!”… And that affiliation has led him to be branded a “first Belizean” by his political opponents. Those political fights, however, never deterred Javier from doing what he does best: unselfishly using his skills to build his adopted homeland. In doing so he facilitated hundreds, if not thousands of low income families to own their own homes and made many more–both PUP and UDP–far wealthier than he would ever become. At fifty-eight years old Javier may face a premature death, but he has already achieved more in life than most of us could ever wish for.