City Council to Revamp Maintenance of Streets and Drainage 

The frequent downpours in Belize City have left many streets in dire need of repair. Today, a resident from the Pen Road area reached out, asking the Belize City Council to assist those living in Waller Alley. This alley, located off Pen Road across from the basketball court, has turned into a large pool of water due to the constant rains. Jehvon Ramclam, a local resident, mentioned that schoolchildren have had to get creative to navigate the flooded alley until it’s fixed. Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner acknowledged the issue, stating that the rains have taken a toll on the infrastructure. He assured reporters that the council is working hard to address the flooded streets, potholes, and drains as quickly as possible.

 

Jehvon Ramclam, Resident, Pen Road

“If you notice, the hole is down there somewhere, the hole is through there, all the way there, so too. In the morning, when the, um, we got young pregnant women live through there too. When the pregnant women come home from school, they have to walk barefooted. They mess up, they really mess up. Then, we got people back there, we do here all kind of things. Nobody want to walk through that, if you go do their hair or nothing. So, we really need help.”

 

Marion Ali

“What do they do to navigate through the mud and the swamp?”

 

Jehvon Ramclam

“They walk, they walk through it, they don’t have no next choice, no next option. If you notice over there, there’s one rubber boots over there, so.”

 

Marion Ali

“So they leave their shoes and their rubber boots there and walk?”

 

Jehvon Ramclam

“They leave their rubber boots there, and then they put on their tennis when they reach out, go to school and whatnot. When they come back, that is the same thing. They have to take off their shoes and walk through it.”

 

Marion Ali

“How many families would you say live back there?”

 

Jehvon Ramclam

“About ten, and ih goh way da back cause da wa alley. Way da back ih goh. Yes ma’am.”

 

Marion Ali

“And you live back here too?”

 

Jehvon Ramclam

“ Partly. I live cross the street but da like I live back ya because I deh back ya nearly every day.”

 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“ We are completely looking at how we change the way we address drains maintenance, chopping of grass, potholes, we know that the current system that we have in place has not worked, does not work, um, for the residents of the city, and, and, and we are very aware of that and so  we are working on a new system which will be  really powered by GIS  where we’ll be really  dividing up the entire city north side south side into different grids we call them grids. 24 such grids have been identified and what we’ll be doing we’ll be having dedicated teams for each grid so you’ll have a chopping team, you will have pothole teams, you will have, um, drainage maintenance team within the scope of each grid and they will be dedicated to that area. So, it provides accountability. That, um, if I am in this area, I become familiar with the terrain, um, I come, I become familiar with the residents in the area and it is more responsive.  But again, one of our priority areas is drainage. That is key and so within the scope of this year, we’ll be ensuring that we focus on infrastructure, potholes, decent streets, ensuring that the drains are clean and maintained in a timely fashion. That is very important for us.”

 

Reporter

“What about sidewalks?”

 

Bernard Wagner

“Sidewalks again, everything is on the table, safety of our residents are always important. We’re not only worry about the motorists, but we always worry about the pedestrians, the kids. And so, if we have to put sidewalks in certain areas, we certainly will look at that.”