Category: Environment

On Monday, we reported on the Belize City Council’s ambitious six-million-dollar plan to fix the damaged streets across the city. While this project is desperately needed, the council was initially unsure where the funding would come from. Despite this, work has already started. Repairs on Thomas Street, which has been in disrepair for about eight months, are now underway thanks to a collaboration between Belize Telecommunications Limited, Belize Water Service, and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing. In an interview today, Mayor Bernard Wagner explained why the repairs took so long to begin.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“That street was never to be rehabilitated It was a decent street prior to it being dogged up by BWS. It was a decent street that was in our plan to rehabilitate that street. We have people living in worse conditions than on St. Thomas Street at that point in time. So we didn’t even have that as a planned street to rehabilitate, but one of the utilities companies, brought on by certain elements went out ahead without approval from us, dug the street up and that is when it went into a real sort of state that we had to know stepping on, then we stepped in and along with the BWS, Digi, and MIDH, we were able to. It’s a street that has been funded by the city. It’s just that they are paying up front and we, we, um, offset over a period of three years, but at the end of the day, it’s a street that is still being funded by the city with the, with the exception of course of MIDH who really contributed close to three hundred twenty-five thousand towards it.”

Reporter

“So the utility companies are putting in roughly?”

Bernard Wagner

“Three twenty-ve. Each company has committed to three hundred and twenty-five thousand. Again, it’s a sort of collaborative effort. But so as not to really bring any stresses on, the council’s cash flow.  over one year period, we said we’ll spread it over a three-year period instead.”

The Belize City Council’s Street Damage Assessment Report, released late Monday, reveals that the Collet constituency tops the list for the most expensive repairs needed. Mesopotamia comes in second, while Fort George and Pickstock are the least costly. The total bill for fixing streets damaged by recent rains and floods is nearly one point six million dollars. Interestingly, even though Collet is the priciest to repair, it has only ten streets and thirteen sections needing work. On the other hand, Lake Independence has a whopping twenty-seven streets and twelve sections requiring repairs. News Five’s Marion Ali gives us a detailed breakdown of the streets and the repair costs.

Taxi Driver

“Dehn mi have umpteen time fi do the street before the rain start, long before the rain start dehn couldda mi do it, but dehn nuh do it. Now dehn wa blame the rain now right? The street the bruk up fi we vehicle and everybody else vehicle. Come on, that da past nonsense.”

Taxi Driver

“St Thomas Street, I nuh know who responsible for it but tell the minister or whosoever responsible fi that, tell dehn goh tek a lee drive out deh and see weh di goh on out deh. The roller coaster weh mi deh by the field betta than that.”

Marion Ali, Reporting

Many residents of Belize City are frustrated with the worsening condition of the streets, largely due to recent heavy rains. Mayor Bernard Wagner has assured that repairs will begin once the weather clears up. Late Monday, the Belize City Council shared a draft copy of a street damage assessment report, dated October thirty-first, detailing the number of streets and sections in each of the city’s ten constituencies that need various levels of repair. It shows the Lake Independence constituency to have the most streets that need repair at forty. That’s because while there are twenty-seven streets that need repair, three of them have more than one section that needs attention. Two of the streets, which haven’t been named, each have seven sections that need repairs. The estimated cost for materials to fix the Lake-I area is about forty-three thousand dollars.

In stark contrast, Collet, which borders Lake-I, has a list of ten streets, but thirteen sections overall that need repair. The price tag for the material to fix these streets is around four hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars. The Albert Division faces a bill of forty-nine thousand dollars for materials to fix just six streets. Over in Pickstock, eleven streets each need only one section repaired, costing about eight thousand, five hundred dollars in materials. Meanwhile, Fort George has four damaged streets, with repair materials estimated at around twenty thousand dollars. Queen Square has fifteen streets and two of them have two sections each to repair, which brings the number of sections to fix in that area to seventeen. The price for the material to repair is over two hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars.

The Freetown constituency has eleven streets in need of repair, and the cost for the necessary materials is estimated at seventy-three thousand dollars. The Belize City Council will have to spend a hundred and seventeen thousand dollars to purchase material for the Mesopotamia Division, which has four damaged streets to repair. Caribbean Shores has twenty-four streets to repair at a cost of a hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars for the purchase of material. The Port Loyola constituency needs a whopping one hundred and twelve thousand dollars for materials to repair nineteen streets and twenty-seven sections. Both taxi drivers and pedestrians we spoke to agree on one thing: the streets across the city desperately need fixing.

Pedestrian

“Most ah dehn got potholes soh dehn need fi fix.”

Marion Ali

“Anyone in particular?”

Pedestrian

“Vernon Street right deh. Vernon Street need fix. The streets dehn terrible, especially King Street, Euphrates Avenue, Amara Avenue – all dehn streets full ah water when ih rain. And nuh ask bout potholes.”

Driver

“One ah the streets that needs to be repaired is Rivero Street because it’s in a really bad condition. That’s one of the main streets on the southside.”

Marion Ali

“Has it affected the maintenance of your vehicle?”

Driver

“Nuh really. I know for my aunt, cause my aunt lives on that street, so I think they need to fix that street. The streets dehn wa fix in due time.”

Marion Ali

“Does it affect your vehicle?”

Driver

“Yeah ih affect the vehicle but wi can’t do nothing right now because the rain nuh want give break and hold up fi mek wi fix the street dehn but as soon as the rain hold up I think the guys wa fix the street. Some ah the streets dehn bruk up and I find dehn got a lotta water, especially when it rains, and stuff like that. I think dehn need fi do something to the streets dehn.”

Marion Ali for News Five.

On November 4, 2021, Belize signed the Blue Bonds agreement with The Nature Conservancy to restructure debt and enhance marine conservation. The deal mandates that twenty-five percent of the country’s ocean space be protected, with roughly twenty percent already designated as Biodiversity Protection Zones. To meet the November 4, 2024, Milestone Four target, Belize must designate an additional five percent as Medium Protection Zones. However, concerns from fishers and experts regarding data reliability and inclusive planning highlight the need for transparency in fish stock assessments and balanced conservation efforts. Digital Editor, Hipolito Novelo, has the following report.

Hipolito Novelo, Reporting 

The government’s latest conservation proposal includes regions like Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Glovers Reef Atoll, and areas east of Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve. However, some local fishermen and other stakeholders are concerned that they haven’t been properly consulted in these decisions. As Belize approaches a key deadline for its Blue Bonds commitment to protect thirty percent of its waters, tensions are rising. Fisherfolk express concern that the push to meet these conservation targets may overlook their livelihoods, highlighting the need for a more inclusive approach to marine protection. Career fisherman Dale Fairweather missed the Belize City consultation while out at sea. Fairweather believes consultations should be more than procedural steps and stresses the importance of firsthand knowledge to avoid misunderstandings.

Dale Fairweather, Fisherman

“To me, it was basically a consultation just to meet their obligation to the Blue Bond.  Well, I think that fishermen should attend all of these things so that they know what happened. I don’t think it’s a waste of time. I think it’s for the fishermen to attend because if they don’t attend, then they will be blind to what’s going on.  Under the Managed Access Program, you’re allowed to fish two areas.  So, if I don’t have a license for Lighthouse Reef,  I might get pushed out and can’t go fish the deep water around like those reef later on then down the strip They might bring in rules because right now they say there’s no rules  Say maybe here to down the road inside to put expand the inside rules all the way out to the boundary then I won’t be able to go and fish around like those reef, you know the blue water because  Did this law come into effect now? But right now they say there is none.  So basically, I don’t know, to me it’s like a double edged sword, you don’t know. Are you worried about that? Yes, I am worried because I’m investing in going into the deep, deep sea fishing.”

Nigel Martinez, Executive Director of the Belize Federation of Fishers (BFF), criticized the recent consultations as poorly organized and lacking essential information. According to Martinez, the Belize City meeting had minimal attendance and didn’t adequately represent those fisherfolks who are directly impacted by proposed marine zone expansions. He questioned the use of “public consultation,” suggesting it was misleading due to limited transparency, the absence of a detailed management plan, and insufficient participation from the fishing community.

Nigel Martinez, Executive Director, B.F.F.

“When you talk about public consultation, there was no public consultation there.  They did not even meet a threshold, you know, so that was alarming to me.  And that’s why I came to that conclusion that it was  poorly organized.  I would have wanted to see a management layout of the new expansion area.  Each zone should have a management plan. What are the new requirements for these expansions? How will these impact the area?  What is the fisheries management of that specific area? None of those were explained.  They came and they made a presentation and because the government have to meet milestone four based on the blue bond commitment,  they outright don’t care whether you agree or don’t agree.  At the end of the day, the SI is going to be implemented.”

Despite the Fisheries Department’s assurances that consultations are inclusive and involve diverse stakeholders, critics argue these sessions lack genuine engagement, suggesting that decisions may already be predetermined. Acting Fisheries Administrator Rigoberto Quintana points to efforts like community outreach in key coastal areas and good turnout in places like San Pedro and Caye Caulker but acknowledges limitations in reaching the full spectrum of impacted fisherfolk.

Rigoberto Quintana, Acting Fisheries Administrator

“ I must also say  that this process, we have the, at the highest level, we have the Fisheries Council,  that some of this work has been, the Council has been updated as this work was being done through the Coastal Zone and the Fisheries Department. And we have in that Fisheries Council, we have four representatives from fisherfolk organizations.  We have Northern Fishermen, National Fishermen, the Chairman of Chunox Fishermen’s Association and we have the chairman of Hopkins Fishermen’s Association in the Fisheries Council.  With this expansion based on the meeting yesterday, I can speak to yesterday and today that they are in support. The area will be open to those fishing activities that fishers are carrying out, and we’re not restricting fishers or any other activities that happen in the general rivers area. I expect that, this meeting with stakeholders will be successful because, fishers right now the sentiment is that once will not be restricted, we can continue to have access to the traditional fishing activities, then we will support this process.  And the blue bonds is a legal agreement that the government of Belize signs off. Those conservation commitments by Belize is binding to the nation.”

As Belize advances its plans to expand Biodiversity Protection Zones (BPZs), local fishers and experts question whether these initiatives rely on robust data and inclusive planning. Critics are concerned that baseline data transparency issues and limited stakeholder input might overshadow the needs of fishers and accurate assessments of marine health. Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.