Mexican Sports Centre Not an Official Shelter

As the rains came down, politics was at play.  U.D.P. standard bearer for Freetown, Orson “OJ” Elrington posted on his Facebook page that since three this morning, he as well as the Director of the National Sports Council, Ian Jones and others were out assessing the situation in flood prone areas of Freetown. While nobody was evacuated, Elrington appealed to residents in the area to seek refuge at the Mexico Sports Centre, located next to the Marion Jones Sporting Complex, which he says they had opened as a shelter.  A picture was even posted of beds within the centre.  But the facility, according to CEMO Coordinator, Michael Noralez is not designated as an official shelter.

Michael ‘Chips’ Noralez

Michael ‘Chips’ Noralez, CEMO Coordinator

“The Mexican Sports Centre is not on the list of official hurricane shelters for Belize. Those who are doing that are probably looking for political mileage or something like that. I refer to them as very irresponsible people because the protocols that we have in place for people to use a shelter, they don’t have there. The security protocol; you need police. You need security because you never know who would go there to do mischief or something like that. The COVID-19 protocols – they wouldn’t have that in place either. So I would advise people not to go there because you would be playing with your lives. This is no time for politics and grandstanding.”