One month after Dean, Corozal recovers
Belizeans will not soon forget the names Dean and Felix, but for the majority of our population those two category five hurricanes will be remembered only as reminders of what could have been. Not so for residents of the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts. Today News Five’s Marion Ali returned to the scene of August’s devastating storm.
Marion Ali, Reporting
One month after Dean relief efforts are still in progress, evidenced by trucks loaded with food and building supplies still distributing goods to people in need. Relief Coordinator for Corozal James Janmohamed, was still visiting with residents of the over thirty affected villages.
James Janmohamed, Relief Coordinator, Corozal
“We have B.D.F soldiers working tirelessly from early morning til late at night until we can’t see. So we’ve been working everyday including Independence Day actually. We worked half a day Independence Day but the B.D.F is tremendous at this work. The phase that we are in now is the end gate where we’re visiting all the villages and physically checking anybody that slipped through the cracks for whatever the reason they might have slipped through because nobody knew about them or whatever. We generally going through the village and we take the chairman of the village or if the chairman gives us a Councillor to take around, so we take them around, they identify the places, we assist them.”
Tito Grant was one of the residents of San Andres Village who received help from NEMO today. Grant lost his entire roof but he cannot replace the zinc because his house is so dilapidated that the structure will simply cave in. He has been slowly replacing the old house with a new cement one in the back of his yard and we were on hand to witness him receive the materials for a new roof.
Tito Grant, lost roof
“Mi sista give me wah lee help so ah wah put wah concrete deh, they blocks. Noh know how far, well probably how ah get they zinc and board well guess ah wah done lee fasta.”
One lady who’s been rebuilding very fast is Angelina Gilharry, whose house was blown away last month. Gilharry received a new plywood home soon after that, and today when we showed up, she had another new house in her yard, this one for her sister who lived with her before the hurricane.
Angelina Gilharry, received new houses
“The first one weh they build dah from the Institute an the other one we get material from Housing and Planning through Vildo Marin.”
Marion Ali
“So out of the one structure that you had that was totally damaged you got two new homes out of it.”
Angelina Gilharry
“I got two new homes out of it.”
Marion Ali
“This is not only a total recovery. This is like a 200 % recovery.”
Angelina Gilharry
“Mhhhm. Yes. Well ah feel plenty glad. The kids they have shelter fi themselves.”
Gilharry says her children’s books that were destroyed by the hurricane have also been replaced and all her five kids are now in school.
Because so many areas were affected, Relief Coordinator, James Jan Mohamed says it was not always easy to find the people in need. But Corozal Town Mayor, Hilberto Campos says the assistance could have come sooner.
Hilberto Campos, Corozal Town Mayor
“The help is getting there. As for my judgement, it’s at a very slow pace, it’s too slow and unfortunately it’s in the hands of political leaders that are playing these types of games that are whether you’re from one party or another. That is the case; that is my entire argument.”
Politics aside, many residents have had been busy rebuilding on their own, like John Liu.
John Liu, lost roof
“As parents and as citizens we have to try do something fi weself. The government help out other people with zinc and nail and support but we as the owners of the different houses we have to try to make an effort for our children and ourself, noh.”
Janmohamed says thus far, NEMO along with other agencies and organizations have helped over four hundred and sixt families. This represents about two thirds of the total number of families NEMO estimates need assistance. One of the sectors worst hit was the papaya industry, which suffered over two thirds losses to Dean. Gilberto Vivas is the General Manager of Fruta Bomba Company, Belize’s largest exporter of papayas to the U.S.
Gilberto Vivas, General Manager, Fruta Bomba Company
“Since the hurricane we have been cleaning the fields. We have been lifting up plants with sticks and tying them and we are doing ok right now. We have about six hundred acres already in the grounds.”
Marion Ali
“You mean replanted?”
Gilberto Vivas
“Not really replanted. We are planting about a hundred acres every month as from the August, September planting.”
Marion Ali
“How many acres do you own and how much of that was destroyed?”
Gilberto Vivas
“We had about a thousand nine hundred acres and now we have about six hundred. The six hundred acres are non-producing plants. We will be in some production in December, January and in full production in March April next year.”
Janmohamed says NEMO has also tried to assist the papaya reapers who have been rendered unemployed by Dean.
James Janmohamed
“We are utilising the Fruta Bomba factory space and they’re giving it to World Food free of charge to pack food for these couple months and we’ve employed two hundred employees from Fruta Bomba to pack the food and these guys are getting paid by funds available from U.N.D.P. so the economy starts to move. They’re getting a wage then we don’t have to feed all of them because they’re getting a wage and they’re getting a wage comparable to what they were getting before, in fact, a little better probably.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
Janmohamed says NEMO will also employ another hundred of the unemployed papaya reapers and those who worked at the S.P. 2000 Plaza, recently destroyed by fire at the Commercial Free Zone, to help clean up hurricane-affected villages.
