2024-09-06 - Channel 5 Belize

Tropical Wave Causes Flooding in Belize City

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, 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, 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.”

Paul Lopez

“What you think will happen if it continues?”

Kerry Sandoval

“Cho, everywhere wah flood tonight boss, everywhere.”

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, 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, 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.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Mayor Says Carnival Should Be Postponed If Rains Persist

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?”

Too Wet or “Wet Dah Wet” for Carnival?

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, 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, 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.”

General Decrease in Rainfall Expected on Carnival Saturday

According to the National Met Service, the central and northern areas of Belize received the most rain between nine p.m. on Thursday night and midday today. Belize City received over five inches of rain. The good news is that the showers have decreased. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected over the next twelve to eight hours. But the good news is that a general decrease in showers is expected on Saturday.

Shanea Young, Senior Climatologist, National Meteorological Service

“For the next eight to twelve a few showers, isolated thunderstorms and periods of rain, but mostly over coastal and northern areas tonight and tomorrow morning. And then during the course of the day tomorrow, a general decrease in showers is expected. We can still get up to about two to four inches of rainfall between now and tomorrow morning, and then conditions become a little less moist with showers decreasing over the area.”

Britney Gordon

“ As you mentioned, Belize City is experiencing the most rainfall, we can expect this to persist tomorrow as well? And if so, what areas specifically in Belize City?”

Shanea Young

“The rains and also the showers, Belize City is very small in the Belize District. So it’s the entire Belize District that got the most rainfall. But In terms of the showers, basically, especially the ones that have passed us, they cover the entire city. So both the north and the south side of the city has received around almost the same amount. Slightly less on the southern portions of the city with the areas near Port of Belize and the Coastal getting around one hundred sixty millimeters while on the north side. That was the area that got the 138 millimeters. And so tonight into tomorrow, there is no differentiation between which parts of the city should get at least light rain tonight into tomorrow. But like I mentioned after tomorrow morning, shower activity across the country, not just in the city, should start to decrease. As we go into the weekend.”

Britney Gordon

“So when you say tomorrow morning, around what time do you mean? Because as we know, we have activities very early on in the morning as well. So can we expect heavy rainfall during those as well?”

Shanea Young

“It’s still possible, but not as much. So by the afternoon, it should clear up. By, I would say maybe like by nine o’clock or so tomorrow morning, the significant shower activity should decrease.”

Bulldozer Accident Results in Damage to Coastal Highway

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.

U.D.P. Vice Chair August Takes Alliance to Task on Unity Convention

The expulsion of Tracy Panton, Patrick Faber, John Saldivar and Beverly Williams from the United Democratic Party is the result of a series of issues that culminated in a failed attempt at recalling the leadership of Shyne Barrow. That’s according to Deputy Chairman Alberto August. Earlier today, August and National Campaign Manager Lindsay Garbutt did their media rounds, essentially responding to several claims made by the Alliance for Democracy earlier this week. To begin with, August established the fact that the Alliance for Democracy no longer has the right to be heard by the United Democratic Party since its members have been formally kicked out. As for the fate of an upcoming unity convention to be held by the Alliance in October, under the auspices of the U.D.P., August says he doesn’t know where that is coming from.

Alberto August, Deputy Chairman, U.D.P.

“Several things have been happening, da wahn evolution of various things. We have tried mediation with a team that Mr. Garbutt headed. We have tried negotiation and now we are at the point where we are at expulsion. The official document out of the UDP, as you rightly said, is that these individuals have been expelled from the party. So then, in terms of the UDP, they hold no locus standi and it is so unfortunate because when you are talking about people like the honorable Panton, and the honorable Patrick Faber, who has so much experience in politics, it is not something that you would want to do because they bring a lot to the party. But in life there are some things that you might have to do. They are calling this convention on the twentieth of October, I think, in Bird’s Isle. With no locus standi in the UDP, I mean they cannot be calling a UDP convention because there cannot be two UDP. We cannot be operating parallelly. So while they may be calling that, there’s only one UDP. So I don’t know what kind of convention they would be having, unfortunately. And I don’t know because I hear them talking about an interim leader and electing an interim chairman, but I don’t know where that is coming from. In terms of the UDP, like I said, having been expelled from the party, it places them in a precarious position.”

August Explains Support for Shyne Barrow’s Leadership

According to August, several attempts were made to resolve the falling-out between the Alliance for Democracy and the leadership of the United Democratic Party. They even resorted to mediation and when that effort was unsuccessful, Party Leader Shyne Barrow was left with no choice but to get rid of it’s members.

Alberto August, Deputy Chairman, U.D.P.

“After that process was completed and the mediators thought that they could not go any further, I think you are aware of the document that they might have produced, that they could not go any further, the leadership of the party still believed that we could have gotten our act together and we could have… because we are talking about senior members of the party, you know. Atrick Faber served one time as leader of the party, as you are well aware, deputy prime minister of this country. Tracy is a senior tourism professional and so we are not talking about the ordinary persons, the insignificant persons. I must acknowledge the efforts of our current leader was almost bending [over] backwards to getting them back onboard. He tried mediation and when that failed, he said let’s go to negotiation and when that failed now, the man is left with no other alternative but to do this because he needs to prepare his party for the upcoming general elections. Like I said, it began snowballing to where we are right now. If you would recall two years ago, I led the charge for the recall of the current leader, but I must admit that from then to now, he has come a long way in terms of the way how he governs the party.”

Has Shyne Barrow been Given a Fair Chance to Lead?

Among the issues that the Alliance for Democracy has with the leadership of Shyne Barrow is his inability to lead the U.D.P. to victory at the polls. Since taking office as party leader, Barrow has failed to deliver village council elections, municipal elections, as well as the recent bye-election in Toledo East. Here’s how August responded to that criticism.

Alberto August, Deputy Chairman, U.D.P.

“In politics, the success of a political party is determined by the amount of elections it wins. And so then, therefore, as the head of the party he must always be prepared to make his party winnable and puts the party up to win elections. That is what…”

Isani Cayetano

“That is what becomes the crux of the matter here. Those four are saying, “Look, part of the leadership challenge is that under Mr. Barrow we haven’t really won any of the elections that have taken place recently, including the bye-election a few months ago in Toledo East.”

Alberto August

“Because one of the unfortunate things in all of that, is that since he was elected as leader of the party, he has barely had time to focus on leading the party. What he has spent most of his time on is outing those types of fires that come up from time to time. And you specifically mentioned, like for example, the bye-election out in Toledo East. The division within our party resulted in the same people not coming to the front and shouldering what could have been maybe a better performance for the party.”

National Campaign Manager Weighs in on U.D.P. Fiasco

We also spoke with Lindsay Garbutt, the U.D.P.’s national campaign manager. He was part of a team that advocated for mediation to take place within the fractured party. Despite making a sincere effort to mend fences, Garbutt says the Alliance for Democracy went back on its word by seeking a recall of Shyne Barrow as party leader. But what about the John Saldivar factor? August and Garbutt weighed in on the ousted Belmopan standard bearer.

Lindsay Garbutt, National Campaign Manager, U.D.P.

“We made a genuine effort and I think I got together what is arguably the best group of people we could find as mediators and nationally recognized people of integrity, who all felt that a viable opposition is critical in our system of democracy. We met with both groups and after the second meeting we really felt that we were making some advances. Two hours after the second meeting, it was published that the Alliance for Democracy had sent out to the chairman a recall petition. It is extremely difficult to carry out mediation when both groups are not agreed and something like that happens. So unfortunately, the mediation ceased. But like what Alberto said, we still tried hard behind the scene to see if we could bring both groups to the table. There are some members that need to go and some new people that need to come in if this party is to have any success in the future.

Isani Cayetano

“John Saldivar seemingly remains an influential part in all of this, notwithstanding the fact that he lost stunningly in the 2020 general elections and he has taken a significant hit in terms of his credibility in politics.”

Alberto August, Deputy Chairman, U.D.P.

“It is interesting that you mentioned John Saldivar, but the influence that John Saldivar has on the party at this moment stems from the way how the party is governed in terms of the constitution, the dispersing of delegates. So when you have an individual who controls other people of like standing, it forms a group of delegates who can shift, because you will remember, you can recall, there was one point when John Saldivar was one hundred percent behind the current leader. When John Saldivar moves, he moves with a certain clique and the is the result of how the party is currently governed in terms of the constitution.”

Public Officers Recognized for 35 Years of Service

The Ministry of Public Service today recognized twenty-three public officers who have dedicated thirty-five years of their lives to public service. A recognition ceremony was held where these public officers received a certificate. Additionally, their names will be added to the Public Service Walk of Fame in Belmopan. This year, the Keeper of the Flame Award was bestowed upon Former Chief Magistrate Sharon Fraser. We heard from the Minister of Public Service Henry Charles Usher as well as Fraser.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service

“It is always a pleasure to share his special day with you. It is a pleasure to be here with my chief, Miss Sharon Fraser who is now the keeper of the flame. That sounds like something out of game of thrones. So, I had to ask what does that mean? The keeper of the flame is a public officer who gives twenty or more years of service and even after retiring continues to do a lot for the public, continues to contribute to her country and the people of Belize. I can’t think of anybody who fits this than Miss Sharon Fraser. Congratulations to all of you on behalf of the prime minister and the government of Belize. I thank you all for your service. Thiery-five years is a testament to your service, your dedication and your commitment to providing the best service to the Belizean people.”

Sharon Fraser, Former Chief Magistrate

“I must say that the name suits the award, keeper of the flame. I guess some additional pressures are being brough on me, because if I think I can just go off quietly into the sunset. That is not what I imagine keeper of the flame should be doing. But I am keeping the flame and I will continue as long as I am allowed to. I want to take this opportunity to express my thanks to the ministry of public service and the persons in the public service who are always supportive of me, who would have listened to the advice I have given to improve the service.”