As we reported on Wednesday, three new e-buses have arrived in Belize. Those buses will be assigned to a company that is currently running a public transportation operation. Today the Minister of Transport, Rodwell Ferguson told News Five that the company that qualifies for the routes will come right from among the existing pool of bus operators. This, he said, will ensure that there will be no additional competition.
Rodwell Ferguson
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Transport
“The first start was two E-buses in Belize City and then now three that will service the Western and the Northern Highway. If you notice we put out the bid, put out the tender and those who have interest will bid and then a committee will sit down and decide who is the best person to bid to get all the rounds because one company will manage the three buses at least for one year pilot project. We are getting the same operators to apply. And so it will be one of them that will be successful. And so they are already in the system. So we are not bringing anybody new to compete along with them.”
For yet another time, there’s a shortage of license stickers and license plates. Today the Minister of Transport said that they had received a press release in August informing them that they were in stock, but in just a month the stock was depleted. He did not shy away from taking blame and assured us that the problem should be fixed shortly.
Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Transport
“As the minister responsible, I guess the buck stops at me. But ever since I tellmy staff, we must get the act together. So, you know, put a database in place. I’m asking them for the last year, let us have a minimum reorder level and a maximum reorder level so we reach two hundred, it’s time to reorder. Right now, I believe we are getting to that, to that milestone, and hopefully after September, there should be no more issue with license plates. As those four sets came in, they’re gone. I want to applaud the Belizean people, they want to do things the legal way, and they come and demand a license plate, and come and demand their stickers. But we are now almost over the hump, and we should be able to come back and sweep.”
Reporter
“Why has it taken this long?”
Rodwell Ferguson
“I’ll say it’s internal, and I hope that I got it fixed now.”
Five of Belize’s most popular tourist destinations today received compactor garbage trucks from the Belize Tourism Board to help them better manage their garbage collection efforts. The Minister of Tourism, Anthony Mahler handed over one of the units to Belmopan, Placencia, San Pedro, Caye Caulker and Hopkins. The ceremony took place in Belmopan, a city which itself has encountered problems with the only compactor truck they were using prior to today. News Five’s Marion Ali was present and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Tourism and clean destinations logically go together. If a city is dirty, it won’t be appealing to visitors. Today, the Belize Tourism Board endorsed that concept when it handed over new compactor garbage trucks to five of Belize’s top tourist destinations. Belmopan, being one of the recipients, is now able to better manage its garbage collection to meet a rapidly growing population. Mayor Pablo Cawich explained.
Pablo Cawich
Pablo Cawich, Mayor, Belmopan “As Belize continues to grow, maintaining clean, sustainable environments becomes increasingly important, not only for the health of our citizens but also to sustain the beauty of our country for residents and visitors alike. We understand that the critical role of tourism in our nation’s economy and keeping our cities clean is essential to making a positive impression on everyone who visits our beautiful country.”
San Pedro, Caye Caulker and Placencia, three of Belize’s most favored tourist destinations, also received one of the compactor trucks and the representatives who were on hand to receive them spoke about their usefulness in helping to keep their part of the Jewel appealing to visitors.
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“As everywhere in the country, you know, we do have a garbage problem, so it’s no secret about that. But the work that we’re doing, and working along with the Town Council and the Village Council, we’ve always had meetings and discussions about the problems of the garbage, which is always a problem and we have several meetings. Certainly these trucks, one for Caye Caulker, one for San Pedro, will be assisting a lot.”
Warren Garbutt
Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village “The garbage truck that we have had been causing so much breaking down every minute. We were in desperate need of assistance with keeping our community clean for the fact that the collection rates were low in Placencia, operating costs were very high, the trucks breaking down all the time, we could not continue using them, and because of this, the poor sanitary conditions that our workers had to endure, we had no other choice but to seek help to get a proper garbage disposal system and truck.”
Minister of Tourism, Anthony Mahler believes that along with marketing Belize is the important issue of managing garbage. He lamented on the lack of civic pride by some Belizeans.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism “When we go out and sell Belize to the world it’s easy for us to talk about what we have. So I say you don’t have to go to Australia to experience great diving and reefs. You don’t have to go to Egypt to see temples. You don’t have to go anywhere. You don’t have to go to New York and any big metropolitan city to feel the different cultures. We have all of that and we have more caves, rivers, rainforest, etc., and the wealth of that is our people. But for some reason, we don’t have the civic pride that we should have as a nation. We just throw a piece of paper and we laugh and we tell the joke and I say this over and over that we go to Chetumal and hold the paper and then as you get back across to Corozal they throw it on the street and that must not continue.”
Since the announcement came almost two years ago that the Ministry of Transport would be pushing for an upgrade in the public transportation system, bus operators have been making efforts to access financing to acquire better fleets and secure their runs. Along with the upgrade was the announcement that the United Nations Development Program was providing funding for Belize to acquire a fleet of electric buses, two for Belize City and three for interdistrict runs across the western and northern routes. While the e-buses in the Old Capital have been a welcomed option for a couple of months now, the ones earmarked for the cross-district runs have only been in the country since last Wednesday. According to E-mobility Project Manager, Taheerah Usher, there will be two buses running in opposite directions along the western route while the third will run along the northern route. She went over the criteria for a company or individual to qualify for all three routes.
On the phone: Taheerah Usher
On the phone: Taheerah Usher, E-mobility Project Manager, UNDP Belize
“We’ve asked private operators to, um. To indicate their interest is managing and operating these buses under that specific expression of interest, their specific criteria as a qualifications that they would be required to have in order for them to be considered to manage and operate the three buses. They would then have access to the full request form for proposals, and then they’d be able to submit their bid and then be evaluated based on those criteria that are outlined within the tender documents. The specific criteria is looking at in terms of your experience. Do you have any experience within the sector? Um, uh, looking at the financial standings, uh, within the, uh, expression, you see that there’s and I can share the link with you. There’s a specific criteria that asks in terms of providing financial. So, the financial breakdowns for the business and be able to show your financial capacity to actually operate and manage as well as the human resources. So do you have the relevant capacities within your existing, um, within your existing business to be able to, um, run these buses? So for example, your bus drivers, your conductors, and your human resources in terms of your, um, accountants and stuff like that. So I asked specifically for those criteria. And then based on that, then we’d be able to, with their submission, evaluate whether or not they meet those minimum criteria.”
Usher explained that one bidder, whether a company or an individual, will get the green light to operate all three buses under the routes mentioned. She explained that the runs will not interfere with those that are currently being conducted because the time slots are different from the schedules that current bus operators run.
On the phone: Taheerah Usher, E-mobility Project Manager, UNDP Belize
“It’s one tender and so the three buses would be awarded to one successful bidder. The document specifies the routes and the times in terms of peak and off peak times. And I know that the Department of Transport did their thorough research and investigation in terms of ensuring that none of the times which are being proposed does not interfere with any existing routes or runs. So I know they’ve done a lot of work in terms of that to ensure that there’s no clashes with any of the existing runs right now.”
The National Celebrations Commission is proceeding with an itinerary of events to celebrate Saint George’s Caye Day on Tuesday. Here’s ICA Director Kim Vasquez, once again.
Kim Vasquez, Director, Institute of Creative Arts
“In the morning, we have, of course, the official ceremonies at Government House at nine a.m. I think everybody looks forward to this because a big part of that is the installation of the Queen of the Bay. And then after that, we have festivities right back at Memorial Park and Lord Rhaburn Plaza, we go back out there for bram, hosted by the Belize City Council.”
Belize City was under water for the most part of the morning. After a heavy, early morning downpour brought on by a tropical wave, numerous streets were inundated by floodwaters. Classes had not been called off, and so students made their way to school. That is until institutions across the country began sending kids home due to the weather. Floodwater was a major inconvenience to pedestrians and low vehicles alike, but most people pressed on. The Belize City Pumping Station was activated and according to the experts, it helped to decrease floodwaters along key streets in downtown Belize City. News Five’s Paul Lopez went out early this morning. Here is what he found.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
A few hours of downpour on Friday morning led to flooding across Belize City. Vehicles and pedestrians alike had to traverse through several inches of water along main thoroughfares. One woman was seen cautiously stepping off the sidewalk and unto the street with water above her ankles on Mahogany Street. The downpour and flood led many schools to call off classes for the day and send students home.
Darwin Retreage
Darwin Retreage, Belize City Resident
“You guh round and tek a circle around there, you will see a lot of people downstairs, a lot of people yard flood out. We yard flood out, it flood.”
Paul Lopez
“What you think happens if the rain continues like this?”
Darwin Retreage
“Well if it continues people downstairs house flood out. Deh wah have to deal with people appliance and carpet and so.”
Kerry Sandoval
Kerry Sandoval, Belize City Resident
“Cho everywhere flood boss, everywhere. Watch how high the water, right now my yard flood. You cant even walk. Flooded bad, watch yah when I walk this morning I the look to slip down because the yard flood.”
In response to the floods, Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner left his office and hit the streets to assess the situation firsthand. We met him at the Yabra Pumping Station. The station came on line in October 2023 to mitigate flooding in the Old Capital.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“Obviously as you can see here, the four screws are working efficiently. Really putting out like one cubic meter per screw. So, we are looking at four cubic meter per second of water being pulled. As we sit, based on the engineers, this is just taking off the top of the water currently. We have not locked off the gates as yet, because water is being pushed out in its natural form in different areas of the city.”
Ramon Menjivar, the Assistant City Engineer, further explained that the pumping station should reduce the floodwater’s runoff time by fifty percent.
Ramon Menjivar
Ramon Menjivar, Assistant City Engineer, Belize City Council
“The system allows us to activate the pumps and get the water much faster, not necessarily much faster than what is dropping, because you have to compare the rainfall dropping on a land mass, as compared to the facility of the pumping action.”
Paul Lopez
“What should be people’s expectations in terms of how fast the water should run off, compared to not having the turbines in place?”
Ramon Menjivar
“I would say about fifty percent right now, so if we expect the water to run off in six hours, we could have the water with the pumps activated, two to three hours.”
In the immediate area of the pumping station, residents were complaining that floodwater inundated their properties like never before. They questioned the effectiveness of the pumping station, while pointing out an accumulation of garbage in the canal.
Darwin Retreage
“We never does have this problem from when this mih build. Before this build water does run off quick. Less than half an hour. Since this build, this dah wah problem for this community around here. You go around and take a circle; you see a lot of flood people the flood out. You take a picture over there you will see how the garbage pile up, when this the stir up people the tek lick with the mud scent.”
Bernard Wagner
“Flooding is everywhere globally. If you look at Miami, our people need to appreciate that climate change is here and they have to play their role in keeping their yards clean of shrubs, ensuring the drain in front of their yards are clean. It is not just a city council task to take on drainage in front of residents. You should have that civic pride to take pride in your property to ensure that you aid in alleviating flooding in your neck of the woods. We will do our best, but you always require participation by the residents. This is not a one person activity. It requires participation, collaboration, everyone on board. It is not only Belize City, flooding occurs globally, all across the world.”
And while, that was the situation in Belize City, News Five received reports of flooding across the country, especially in the west where several streets were seen underwater in Bullet Tree, Cayo. But all roads lead to the Old Capital tomorrow for the 2024 Carnival Road March. Today, the Chairman of the National Celebrations Committee, Minister Francis Fonseca told News Five that based on the expert advice of the Chief Met Officer, the Belize Carnival Association, in consultation with the committee, will proceed with the road march as scheduled. When we asked Mayor Wagner for his thoughts, he had a different view.
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“You have to play it by ear. I believe you have to be able to see that the rains will to some extent continue and you don’t want indecision, you don’t want indecisiveness. Carnival is about an activity where you want the sun, an experience. So if you are in and out and not sure, you will turn people off. So you have to be decisive in your decision making, will you have it or not have it. So you have to start making plans, if you are not having it then what other dates are we looking at. People will not go and stand up in rain, it is a reality. And so, the organizers have to quickly decide, even if the rains stops, will the streets still have moisture? Will it still draw the same sort of excitement? I am all for the carnival being celebrated on another day?”
The rain certainly did not stop this week’s mas camp events. Several bands danced under the rainy night skies. They told us that their costumes are durable, and that rain can’t stop the Soca jam. Today, we also sought the opinion of Belize City residents on whether the carnival road march should be postponed. Here is a perspective from one carnival band leader and a resident we spoke with.
David Matus
David Matus, Band Leader, Titans Mas Camp
“As you can see we started off in the rain, because no rain cant stop this jam. So if you are worried about the weather, the weather is not going to stop us. Our customs are durable. You could use it every time, nothing will go wrong with it. So it is durability at its best.”
Kerry Sandoval
Kerry Sandoval, Belize City Resident
“Cho, I feel like deh have to cancel that. I am not into the carnival. I go to church and thing. I am not into the carnival. I not even care. But you cant have carnival on the tenth of September that is what I want to make them know, cause yeah we have to celebrate the tenth and twenty-first. After that year, they could have their carnival and dash out.”
If you were travelling along the Coastal Plain Highway this afternoon, you may have had to navigate large craters and stretches of broken road. This was due to the extensive damage caused by a bulldozer earlier today. During periods of torrential rain, motorists are already advised to exhibit extreme caution when travelling along the Coastal Plain Highway; however, this incident forced drivers to become even more vigilant to the dangers on the road. Reports are that the mishap was caused by the pin securing the tow hitch breaking off, resulting in the bulldozer sliding off a flatbed and breaking the road below it. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing responded to the incident and began repairing the damage. No injuries have been reported at this time.
