Six-Hundred-Thousand-Dollar Market for Bella Vista
A major investment aimed at strengthening economic opportunities in southern Belize is taking shape in Bella Vista Village. Government is expecting a new market, valued at more than six hundred thousand dollars, to provide farmers, vendors, artisans and small business owners with a safe and reliable space to sell their products. Government officials say the project goes beyond constructing a building, focusing instead on creating long-term opportunities for residents and supporting the village’s rapid growth. Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Economic Transformation, Carlos Pol, says the market could become a catalyst for economic activity throughout the area.
Carlos Pol
Carlos Pol, CEO, Ministry of Economic Transformation
“Bella Vista is the second-largest village in Belize, but is the first fast-growing villages in the country. The village has overgrown and we need – and they are of need of a different of different developmental projects and we felt that market is one of them given the number of farmers that they have. They have a good amount of farmers. They have artists, and they have that potential and opportunity but they need a secure place. Where they are doing it on the side of the road, it is hazardous. It’s not healthy. The environment is not conducive. The building is just one part. The most important part is for the community to benefit on this, the community to be part of the project, the community to be able to benefit. We have a lot of single mothers that are selling, and I know this will help them. And this will create more opportunities for them to expand on the project, on the products that they are selling. And for new small entrepreneurs. We have a young man, very good artist, that I visited his place and his place is not that attractive or conducive where he do. So we believe that having a stand there at that market, it will uplift him as an individual, as a community and the entire Belize because people, you know how many buses and vehicles go through that highway, and they might stop and see and buy.”
The project is being undertaken using a grant from the CARICOM Development Fund.
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