PM Does Flyover of Inundated Communities in Cayo

Prime Minister John Briceño returned to Belize on Friday, just in time for Tropical Storm Sara’s arrival over the weekend. In a televised address later that day, he urged Belizeans to stay calm and follow their emergency plans, especially those in low-lying and flood-prone areas. Earlier today, PM Briceño joined National Emergency Coordinator Daniel Mendez for a flyover of the affected regions. The sight was overwhelming, with water everywhere and large swaths of farmland submerged. This afternoon, we caught up with the Prime Minister in San Ignacio, where he was touring with several area representatives, including Michel Chebat, Alex Balona, and Orlando Habet. Here’s what he shared with us.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“After we looked at the record rains that we had over the weekend and looking at some of the images of the flooding that was taking place, especially here in San Ignacio, Santa Elena, Bullet Tree and in some other villages, I think it was important to come and take a firsthand look as to what has happened and the amount of damage and see what is it that we can do to rebuild and try to assist the people in this area.”

 

Reporter

“You have been on a [flyover], what is your assessment of the current situation and the situation coming down the river?”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“It’s lots of water.  I flew all the way up to the Chalillo Dam, all the way Caracol, actually.  We went into the Belize River Valley, all the way by Maskall, that whole area.  We saw the Chalillo Dam, it’s overflowing, lots of water.  More and more water is going to be coming down the Macal [River] and onto San Ignacio and Santa Elena and onto the villages in these areas.  Our hope is that it does not rain because if it doesn’t rain, the waters are still running out and hopefully the flooding will not be as bad.  It becomes serious when you have lots of rain and all of the water is coming down.  We have to take into account that we have waters coming in from Guatemala.  The concerns about these waters coming from Guatemala is that a lot of these villages, most of the citizens are very, very poor and they have latrines right next to the river.”