Residents Fed Up with Sewer Odor on Iguana Street

For years, a foul stench has hung over parts of Iguana Street, and tonight frustrated residents say they’ve had enough of the sewer odors drifting from one of Belize City’s main lift stations. The S‑Six facility has long been the source of complaints, but Belize Water Services says it’s finally taking steps to fix the problem, installing new ventilation and repairing a nearby manhole that recently collapsed. We hear first from a resident dealing with the smell daily, then from BWS’s Belize District Manager.

 

Bernard “Dubu” Thomas, Resident, Iguana Street

“Sometimes them ya thing ya smell and affect the whole neighbor. But I noh know who fu call, who fu goh to because according to a bally from New York them thing wa affect we down the stretch. But I noh have no idea. But a bally from New York call me and tell me bout them thing ya weh yo the smell them thing fi years and you the get old. Down the stretch it wa affect wi. But I don’t know if fi we health, people weh control that, I don’t know if they know bout that. I the hear bout it long time but I the live round it too. But these people on the health have to educate the Belizean people round this thing ya cause sometimes they thing ya stink three, four days and we have to inhale it.”

 

On the Phone: Reina Gonzalez, Belize District Manager, Water and Wastewater

“We call the S-Six Lift Station one of our mother stations, meaning that all the other smaller stations within the city including the north side would pump in and send the waste water to this particular station and then this station being one of the largest then will ultimately pump straight to the sewer treatment lagoon. So this station is one of the largest and one of the most critical stations in the city. One of the key things is the proper implementation of the vent system, which S-Six has put in place as well to ensure that these odors which will never be eliminated; However, it’s the proper management of it. So the proper venting systems have been put in place in the station and as well with the manhole being replaced and the efficiency of the pumping was increased also. So we should not have issues of smell in the area at all.”

 

Shane Williams

“I see they have BWS out here. Has it been improving?”

 

Reina Gonzalez

“Well, I the see a lee kinda way and thing. Yes they the improve a lot cause they the try work pan the improvement and thing and a really proud of them. It wa take a while fu improve.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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