Should Ladyville and Lord’s Bank Become a Town?

Today, one question is buzzing on the minds of residents across the Belize Rural Central Constituency: Should Ladyville and Lord’s Bank Village become a town? On Tuesday, News Five got confirmation that this idea isn’t just talk, it’s being seriously considered by both village councils. That led to a sit-down with Area Representative Dolores Balderamos-García and Minister of Rural Transformation Florencio Marin Jr., where they rolled up their sleeves and weighed the pros and cons of making the leap from village to town. Now, let’s be clear, there’s no official plan on the table just yet. It’s still in the idea phase. But according to Balderamos-García, the meeting wrapped up on a hopeful note, with both communities showing real interest in exploring the possibilities. So, what could this mean for residents? More services? Greater autonomy?

 

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Area Representative, Belize Rural Central

“We will be consulting very widely and we would like people to have their say. This is just the beginning of something, and of course, as Mr. King and the minister pointed out to us, we will have to look at the issues of what the community looks like. How many homes, what the population is, what your tax base could possibly look like. Those are the things. Because if we want development for our community, as was pointed out by, we still call her Senator Bennett, former Senator Bennett. She said, we have to have plans.”

 

Britney Gordon

“What are some of the possible benefits that we can see if this shift were to come in the future?”

 

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

“We would be able to address the streets. The drains, the developmental issues, the parks, the playgrounds and looking at businesses to see how we can make our community look better. And another issue is that the airport is really located in the Ladyville area, so we would want to look at that and see how we could work. With the airport, with Bowen and Bowen for example, and the Belkin Factory, we want to encourage our businesses to be apart with us. It’s not just about taxation, it’s about improvement of communities so that there is more incentive to do business, and when business is good, communities are good.”