Relief supplies have been coming in for the 87 San Pedranos who lost everything in the weekend’s big block fire in the Boca Del Rio Area.
And while NEMO has given them food, hygiene kits, bedding, mattresses, and a portable stove, and a temporary shelter, what about the rebuilding of their own homes?
Well, that’s where their fellow islanders come in. The villagers of San Pedro are very community minded, and are known to come up big in times of disaster.
We caught up with Area Rep. Manuel Heredia Jr., this morning, and he shared more details about how the community of San Pedro will assist the victims:
Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr. - Area Rep, Belize Rural South
"San Pedro is known to be the most united community in the whole of Belize and every time there has been a disaster, our people would come together and try to do as much as possible to make sure we can bring relief to the families affected, this one is no different. NEMO yesterday delivered to the families a number of mattresses, stoves, butane tanks, food packages and we gearing up for a radio-ton shortly where we recruit the most amount of money to be able to give them a start in to build back. The business community has also been responded, I know there has been a number of food, an amount of food that can feed all of the people affected every day. Cope Haven which is where the needy children are put, they are also receiving relief goods to make sure that every day these people are taken care."
"Every time we've had a radio-ton nothing less than 50 thousand, sometimes even as much as 80 thousand has been gathered in this radio-ton and I'm sure this one will be no exception. That one is divided amongst the owners of the buildings and a little to the people that were renting in the area. What I have seen from the people that rent, that at the end of the day they are even better off than when they were renting before but particularly the bigger amount goes to the property owners to make sure they can bring back their homes. Sometimes I believe that they do it even better than what it is but definitely as the area representative I will see where I can assist each one of the people over there and there are also contractors that offer their services to make sure that they can do the manual work so that they can save some monies also."
In our conversation with the Minister, he shared that the Government has decided to increase the fire department’s capacity to better fight fires on San Pedro. But, might the Government be attempting to close the stable doors after the horses have bolted? As we told you, there have been 3 of these devastating block fires in the last 6 years. The first one happened in 2014, right in the same part of Boca Del Rio when 66 residents were left homeless. This weekend it was 87, and some of the same families who were hardest hit in 2014, are now back in the same crisis.
Then there was the block fire of 2016, which devastated 88 residents, who lost their homes and their businesses.
So, we challenged the Area Rep., who is also a ranking cabinet minister, about extreme lateness of this intervention by the Government. Here’s what he had to say:
Hon. Manuel Heredia
"Government, yesterday, agreed that it will do its part in purchasing portable pumps and probably a water truck that can hold probably 3,000-4,000 gallons, which can easily be maneuverer, better than a fire engine. Even though BTL has pledged to donate a fire engine, Government will still do its part to make sure that we reinforce. The idea is to have probably a portable pump on the northern part, 1 on the southern part, and the base in the centre, so that wherever happens, they can start from that, and then they can together and do a better job. This is the second fire in the same area. And also, the building people will be making sure that whenever they can rebuild, they can rebuild in a safer way, so that what occurred on Saturday does not happen again."
Daniel Ortiz
"There is this criticism that these measures to improve the fire response should have been in place years ago. This is the third block fire in 6 years. Why is it the government is only now trying to take measures?"
Hon. Manuel Heredia
"I will agree with you that probably more should have been done from before but it’s not late. I must admit that there might be negligence on several sectors of the community that affects this problem but nonetheless I believe that like I said you always learn from mistakes and this one time I believe that you will see quick action from local authorities, from government and from the community itself.”
Email
Print