When is Electricity Coming to Rivera Area?

For decades, families in Belmopan’s Rivera community have been living in the dark, literally. Residents say generations have grown up without electricity, making it hard to work from home, power basic appliances, or even walk safely through the neighborhood at night. While a few households have managed to connect by paying for their own power lines, nearly forty families are still without reliable electricity. Today, we asked Belmopan Area Representative Oscar Mira why progress has been so slow and when residents can expect change. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Oscar Mira, Area Representative, Belmopan

“Part of Rivera. It’s not all of Rivera, so it’s part of Rivera that does not have electricity. And part of the problem was that the area was not surveyed. The area had no infrastructure, had no roads, infrastructure. I was lobbying for that electricity to go in there and I was told by Belize Electricity Limited, there needs to be a road. I did the road and after speaking to BEL They said nobody has applied, so I encouraged residents there to apply. So I know for a fact that one resident, one, has applied to PUC for electricity. And with that one application that they have received, I am now lobbying BEL again to make sure that they can put the electricity in that area. It’s something that is ongoing. As I said it is not an easy, it’s not an easy venture to do because of the lack of roads that was there before. Know that we have it and know that one person has applied. I think BEL would be it would be easier for BEL to put electrics here. So my lobbying still continues. I have committed to ensuring that I do whatever is possible. I wish that I could do it faster. I wish that I had the authority to just to say BEL go and put you in the poles, but that is not and the process is very long. And I just hope that we have some patients it’s been a long time and I, it is not the only area in Belmopan that doesn’t have electricity. Belmopan is growing so fast and in the area of Maya Mopan, there’s also areas that don’t have electricity, that don’t have water. And we are working with the utility companies to ensure that we get those utilities back here as well.”