Cabinet denounces park to parking lot idea
Belize City has few parks, and by all accounts only one is frequented by families every weekend and that is the BTL Park on Princess Margaret Drive. To fulfill a campaign promise, Mayor Moya Flowers delegated one of her councilors, Dean Samuels, to find a way to pay for a beach to be placed along the park’s shoreline. The beach project would have involved reclamation of land and cost upwards of half a million dollars. An idea was then spawned to involve the casino that is currently under construction in front of the park to pay for the beach, and in exchange the casino would gain half of the park to be used as a parking lot. It’s an idea that several councilors said they would have opposed had it ever been brought to a caucus. And to borrow the popular phrase used during House debates QUOTE “Even blind eye Jamesey could see that it was a bad idea” End Quote. And indeed cabinet thought it was a disaster of an idea and felt it was necessary to send an edict quashing any further discussion of the parking lot. The release from the capital said that Cabinet is completely against any contemplated sale or swap of any part of the park. And if necessary, central government is prepared to acquire the park for residents to use. Though blind eye Jamesey could see the ‘park to parking lot’ scheme was a bad idea, in our interview with Dean Samuels on Tuesday, he just didn’t see it.
Dean Samuels, City Councilor (Apr 27, 2010)
“What the council proposed is if we could take the park out, so we would be building a retaining wall and we would be filling it back and again aesthetic, beautification, enhancement of the park. It’s a win-win situation I think for the people of Belize. I think we should put politics aside and falls rumors. It’s something that definitely we should look at it from the benefit of the Belizean people and move forward.”
WHAT IS MY BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY COMING TO THAT MAYOR NEEDS TO GO
dean samuels is a jack ass….. how much he getting paid to be one?
Dean needs to just shut up and look elsewhere for a parking lot, that area is not big enough to even consider shearing with a casino for their private parking, in fact they (the casino) should have made provisions on the lower flat of their building and surrounding lot for parking. When you do business like that with big corporations they only try to take it all later. If they really want to help with a beach just do it with no trade-off from the people of the city. it’s always tit-for-tat with big corporations and politicians, and in the end the majority loose their rights and freedom.
I’d say “screw tha ideat’
“It’s a win-win situation I think for the people of Belize”. QUOTING SAMUELS but for how many belizeans is this a win win situation? I think its a win win situation for the one who made this quote and for the construction project. Money Money Money will make black seem white and vice versa….
I heard from a casino investor that it was a done deal…guess that Z wil just have to do a refund to the investors…
Instead of building more Casinos why not build a Gymnasium in the Park?You all crying about being in a recession and yet encouraging these investors to build more Casinos in Belize.What is this a Genocide conspiracy on the Belizean People.
Great idea Elgin they should start doing things that will help our community and not allow it to become worse – I believe many of the children that are on the streets late at night are there because their parents might be at the casinos subsidizing it with the last few dollars that they have left to maybe pay a bill or buy food.
That half-half thing is not going to work, nor is building an artificial beach. Like Samuels said… the park is eroding as it is. It would not even take as much as 5 years for a beach there to erode. The expanse of the park is not big enough for a real beach, and because it is sandwiched between two hotels, it doesn’t even make sense. The idea to sell half is an even dumber idea. If you ask me, here’s what should have been done if there was going to be any sale. They should have sold the entire park at an exorbitant price to whichever businessmen in the area had interests. Then, with the money, relocate the park to the Marine Parade Boulevard in front of Central Bank. From when they built that i thought a park could go there. Big empty space. If there was going to be any artificial beach, it should have gone there. They could start from scratch and build a really beautiful park there. It has a lot more room and could hold more facilities, like a community pool and basketball courts. It is also closer to the Southside, so it would be easier for everyone in the city to access. But… since that’s not going to happen, it would be a stupid idea to do anything else to the BTL park other than leave it as is.
The Barracks was 3 times the size it is today and they, the Politicians just keep stealing it for themselves or selling it out. Belize waterfront….is not for sale or compromise!
i’d like to meet Jamesey. sounds like he makes a lot of sense.
Why does every politician try to tek the people fi fools?? you can’t believe a word any of them say… None of them can’t come to me and say that they didn’t get into politics to full their pockets. Trust me, if i were in politics, i’d definitly full my pockets and thats the truth…….it’s only human to want to do that. None of these politicians are here to help you or me, they are there to help themselves and maybe the scraps they donate to the poor. All Politicians have an agenda when they reach into office and that is to help themselves and their cronies.
Great idea Jonathan! I often said that I wish Govt. would use that empty lot near the Central Bank for a Public Park as we could all benefit from it and enjoy such a lovely part of this jewel. I often said that it should not be sold to any private investor who may block the view of the Central Bank by placing some high rise structure there.
Mein there taking the only park our kids really have to spend a little sunday at. My kids look forward to going to BTL park. There they will play, eat icecream a, take their train rides and meanwhile the parents eat pupusa and enjoy the cool seabreeze. Mein no wonder our kids are on the street doing mischief . They have nowhere to go and stuck at home learning all sorts of things from the TV. That is so not fear!!! These guys instead of saying there are going to beautify our parks , they want to take it away just to make their millions. Really not fair!!!
really dont want them to do that to our park, you already messed up animal park, and now BTL park into a business that will more than likely be unsucessful, what a way to die!!!
if dean barrow would sell our park for millions wonder how much he will sell his …… for!!
and turning it into a beach haha how stupid yosound, people dump there shit in those waters and they want to fill it up and make a beach!! haha how funny and stupid that will look and it will make the young people get into a lot of trouble becasue the BTL park is the only place they go and heng around!!