CITCO responds (finally) to flooded street

We often receive complaints from viewers regarding various shortcomings in the services provided by different governmental bodies or public utilities. In many instances the calls amount to much ado about nothing, but occasionally the grievance is not only genuine but the offence is disgraceful. Such was the case investigated this afternoon by News Five’s Marion Ali.

Marion Ali, Reporting
Tonight residents of Tibruce Street near its junction with Vernon Street are happy after their portion of the thoroughfare was finally drained and graded after months of official neglect. Resident, Virginia Arana, says the flooded street was an inconvenience for pedestrians who had no other choice but to walk through the dirty water after their calls to the Belize City Council had gone unanswered.

Virginia Arana, Resident, Tibruce Street
“The school children deh have to pass through. Anybody come along gwine dah and so they have to pass through this thing yah.”

Marion Ali
“So how deh pass through?”

Virginia Arana
“Well sometimes they have to tek off deh shoes and walk through. Sometimes, we have wah bridge over deh and the drives deh drive pan top of the things them mek it end up in the drain and flow over the other side. All these pieces of board here dah weh come through here when we set fi people pass through. The other day they mi deh over there di fix over there and they noh do nothing to it.”

Marion Ali
“Who did you talk to?”

Virginia Arana
“Personally I noh talk to nobody but when the City Council man them come along I tell them bout it cause they just done chop here and it noh work, nothing work.”

Marion Ali
“They didn’t do anything?”

Virginia Arana
“Nothing, nothing, nothing get done. The water hole still here. The street still here inna chaos.”

Arana said the street’s condition had grown so terrible that people were beginning to fall in the murky water.

Virginia Arana
“The last time an old lady come about not knowing that the place was that deep, walk by the edge there and drop in. Luckily we mi deh round fi drown inna di place there because she mi the fumble, fumble, fumble. One next incident wah young lady pass with her baby and luckily dah mi two of them and when she drop the baby drop inna the drain, she couldn’t get up fast enough fi pick up the baby and the next gial pick up the baby. All kinds of things happen here. From school children deh drop inna this, deh inna this water and go back home and right so.”

Tanya Ford frequents Tibruce Street and says taxis charge her more because they have to take alternate routes.

Tanya Ford, Frequents Tibruce Street
“Even if we take a cab, like what caught me the other day I took a cab to come into the area and because of the water he had to go all the way around and so he charge me extra. So that’s really an inconvenience, it is costing money even in the simplest of way.”

Marion Ali
“And then when you noh have money for the cab you have to walk?”

Tanya Ford
“I have walk or take a bike and if I come in this area…well I know that it is always flooded with water so I try to come form an area where it is drier but it is not necessarily easier so it is longer for me.”

Meanwhile, Kareema Graham who also frequents the area says the waters had begun to affect people’s health.

Kareema Graham, Frequents Tibruce Street
“We even ketch cold and cough due to this water and it gives us fungus under our foot. The water is contaminated, it leads from septics, it runs out so we would please ask to come and fix it, deal with the situation. It is not healthy for the children and for the other residents, please.”

That plea was finally heard when this afternoon our call to Deputy Mayor and City Councillor responsible for Works, Anthony Michael, resulted in a quick response.

Anthony Michael, City Councillor in Charge of Works
“Having young children going to school walking through conditions like this is unacceptable and for that I apologize to the residents of Belize City. The situation will be addressed today and early tomorrow morning this problem will be solved. We have a lot of streets within Belize City that are in this condition, some are better, some are worse.”

Councillor Michael says he will investigate why the complaint never reached his desk.

Anthony Michael
“We have very competent staff, very good staff. If for whatever reason they forget I will deal with that situation internally because everything has to be logged and to find out where the complaint was, who received the complaint. Again I apologize to the residents of Belize City. But at the end of the day the residents they don’t want to hear about the technocrats and the engineers; they elected Anthony Michael and my ten other colleagues to the City Council. They want to see us out here on the streets and fixing their problem.”

Marion Ali
“Sir the complaint is that the council came and tended to the other section of Tibruce Street and left this section.”

Anthony Michael
“I am not aware of the situation I could rest assure and to the resident of this area and the rest of Belize City; we are addressing your problem, we will address your problem. This situation out here Marion, as there is my word, by tomorrow midday this situation here will resolve.”

Councillor Michael says anyone who has any complaints about street condition or drainage can call him personally at 610-5224.

Marion Ali reporting for News Five.