Rebuilding Belize with Stronger Construction Materials
Prime Minister John Briceño
According to P.M. Briceño, a majority of the structures that were damaged during the passage of Hurricane Lisa were homes that were constructed with plywood. The plan going forward, he says, is to rebuild using concrete and other materials that can withstand the stresses of gale-force winds. The idea, he further noted, is to look at the long-term construction of houses across the country.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Most of the houses that were destroyed are these plywood houses or houses that were just quickly put together. A board house, if it was properly built, can withstand the hurricane, Channel Seven is a good example. That was built many years ago. And like that, so many of them, I mean, look at the old house that was falling apart by Happy Tails, you know that one that was falling apart? That‘s still standing. It goes to make the point that if it is properly built it can last. If you look at the low cost housing that that the Ministry of Housing has been doing in the city, all of them, no damage to the buildings. So our idea is that we want to be able to build as many houses as we possibly can, for as many people as we can, within these areas and then also then for probably middle class families to see if we can get some low cost funding and interest rates so that they could also rebuild and rebuild better. We cannot continue giving them plywood houses because then we are not doing anything for them because with the next storm it is going to go away. It‘s going to be blown away and also, you continue to perpetuate poverty and when you look at the conditions that our people live in, I don‘t think anybody should be living in those conditions in 2022 anywhere in the world, especially here in Belize. So, the job, the task ahead of us is huge, but we have to start somewhere and I think that the nest opportunity to start is now to ensure that we can get, to be able to assist people more long term than as opposed to short term.”
