Belize City Mobilizes Massive Cleanup Push Ahead of Hurricane Season

With hurricane season just around the corner, the Belize City Council hit the streets today with shovels, heavy equipment and more than a hundred workers in a major effort to clear drains and reduce flooding across some of the city’s most vulnerable communities. Residents welcomed the initiative, with many saying clogged drains have made life miserable whenever heavy rains fall. Shane Williams has the story.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Belize City residents woke up today to the sound of excavators, sewer jets and sanitation crews rolling into their neighborhoods as the Belize City Council launched its second annual hurricane preparedness cleanup campaign. This year, crews targeted seven flood-prone communities. Deputy Mayor Eluide Miller says the effort is about more than just clearing drains. It’s about preparing the city before the Atlantic hurricane season intensifies.

 

Eluide Miller, Deputy Mayor, Belize City

“We have over a hundred and thirty staff members from the Belize City Council on the ground today participating in this effort. And we also have with us specialized equipment as well to help us do this work more effectively and efficiently. Just behind me we have a vacuum truck and we also have a sewer jet sweeper along with us today as we traverse the various areas and ensure that we’re prepared for the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.”

 

The cleanup effort also became an opportunity for councilors and health inspectors to connect directly with residents about sanitation and waste disposal. Santa Barbara Street resident Rayford Gill took advantage of the initiative to express his concerns directly to Deputy Mayor Miller.

 

Rayford Gill, Resident, Santa Barbara Street

“Boy we had a clogged up drainage system right now mi the go on but as unu come now everything – cause when ih rain this whole street ya, the whole of this area flood out when yo have some real showers. So weh unu the do right now wa be wa big help to the community right. Cause lotta people, sometimes they have to take off their shoes to get to the boulevard there.”

 

Lake Independence resident Lucilla Leslie was also pleased to finally see drains being cleared in her neighborhood.

 

Lucilla Leslie, Resident, Lake Independence

“Right now the drain mi clog up. Water use to be high but since they the dig out and dig out the drain, everything come perfect right now.”

 

Port Loyola resident Malcom Burgess is one of the sanitation workers cleaning up the Caesar Ridge area today, just a stone’s throw away from home.

 

Malcom Burgess, Sanitation Worker, Belize City Council

“I the dig the drain because when hurricane come people land and yard noh full up and lot of water and debris and soh. Soh we the tek out the debris. That da weh people supposed to do, clean the street, instead of litter it, dirty the street – make people say we stink and dirty. Come watch we community now. We the clean fi we community now because that da weh we supposed to the do.”

 

For retired sanitation worker Joan Bennett, keeping the city clean is personal.

 

Joan Bennett, Caesar Ridge Resident

“I work with City Council over thirty years. I retire now. SML, BML, Waste Control, I can’t read and write soh then ya da the job weh I take on. And it get inna mi blood so long that ah can’t see dirt. Dirt da mi worst enemy so ah keep mi place clean. Take ah look pan mi place boy. Even though it’s a long barracks I keep it clean.”

 

Not every moment of the cleanup went perfectly though. One Caesar Ridge resident kept a close eye on heavy machinery operating near her home after pipes were damaged during previous campaigns.

 

Caesar Ridge Resident

“Soh ah the beg they hard, unu please dig but unu mind the pipe they fi mi. I noh mind. I glad like how they the clean up but just noh bruk mi pipe. God because yo know water is the essentially thing I need.”

 

Well… moments later, disaster struck. But nothing a little glue can’t fix and minor inconvenience for long term relief from free flowing drains. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

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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