Home Movers Raise Safety Concerns After Fatal Crash

The Belize Home Movers Group says it has “serious concerns” that safety measures were not followed in the crash that killed a police sergeant on the George Price Highway on Saturday night.

Police say Sergeant Jovanni Ponce, 50, was driving a white Chevrolet Equinox from east to west between Miles 42 and 43 in Cotton Tree Village at about 10:07 p.m. when his vehicle collided with the left corner of a zinc house. The house was being transported in the opposite direction on a white Ford F-350 flatbed truck.

The truck was driven by 58-year-old Barry Espat, a Belizean businessman of Belmopan.

Ponce’s wife, 61-year-old Innocenta Andrea Ponce, and an 11-year-old boy, who were also in the vehicle, complained of pain, but police saw no major injuries. Police served Espat with a Notice of Intended Prosecution and collected a urine sample from him.

The Home Movers Group said its members avoid moving houses on Saturdays and Sundays because of the added risks. It said it is “deeply disappointed that a house was being transported on a Saturday night despite these well-recognized concerns.”

“Equally troubling are the apparent shortcomings in the safety lighting of the house involved.”

It said it helped develop safety standards with the Department of Transport, including bright amber strobe lights on all four corners of a house and white floodlights on its front face. The group said it has serious concerns that these were not adequately followed and that, if confirmed, this would be a “deeply disappointing failure.”