$340K Water Equipment to Hook up Homes in 15 Villages

Fifteen villages across Cayo, Stann Creek, and Toledo have received water system equipment and maintenance supplies valued at approximately $340,000 BZ in a government handover ceremony held Monday.

The Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development & Local Government said the donation includes water tanks, pipes, water meters, plumbing materials, culverts, weed eaters and a lawnmower to support community water systems.

The president of the National Association of Village Councils, Rosaura Chan, said at Monday’s ceremony that the handover comes with responsibility as much as opportunity. “The true value of these resources will not be measured by what is received today, but by how well they are maintained and how many lives they continue to improve in the years ahead,” she said. “The strength of Belize is not found only in towns and cities. It is found in our villages.”

During his time behind the podium, Minister Oscar Requena took the opportunity to make a pointed political contrast and called the UDP government out for what he called “never” delivering to their people. He said, “We had a government of the United Democratic Party for 13 long years. Did you ever see something like this? I want you think. You ever saw something like this? No. Never.”

He also pushed back against calls to hand rural water systems over to Belize Water Services. Requena argued that community-managed water boards allow “the money [to] stay in the community” and, in turn, “the money benefits the community”. He pointed to San Antonio in Toledo and Hopkins, both of which cleared tens of thousands of debt and now hold significant savings after water meters were installed.

According to Area Representative Osmond Martinez, three villages he represents will benefit from this initiative, including Bladen Village, San Isidro Village, and Bella Vista Village. He said that between 2010 and 2022, Bella Vista Village’s population grew by 88%. “No other village in the history of Belize has grown so fast,” Martinez said, adding that some homes still lack water access.

“As I look at things in our country, I see these events like right now as exceptionally important,” Minister Dr Louis Zabaneh added. “And it is important for us to continue to give as much as we can to our communities and to our people, because that is what the balance is. It is by what we’re doing, by taking the taxpayers’ money by taking grant funds, loan funds, or whatever it is, and using it properly and the right way.”