We met with the Ombudsman this morning and he gave us more details on their decision to relocate. He says they encountered several challenges in operating at their current location:

Gilbert Swazo, Ombudsman
"It is the fact that this office in my view had posed several challenges as it relates to safety and some security concerns. We have seen from the time I came to the office we have had several challenges where elderly the disabled are unable to access or have difficulties accessing the office of the ombudsman. Further more as you may have seen there is also a challenge with parking because the Lowe flat of this office is in fact a restaurant and when the time comes to serve meals particularly throughout the day but in particular around midday time it is difficult to access come in and to exit out of this present office but more important the accessibility for the people who need the service is very challenging. So it was that we start to look for different locations that would provide the type of connectivity and the role of accessibility to in particular the elderly the disabled and other people who need the access. It was difficult at that time to find any building in Belize city so we found a building that was located in Belmopan on a lower flat which provides the kind of access for elderly the kind of access for disabled people so we believe it is fitted and proper to be able to serve the people of Belize from that location at this time."

The Ombudsman's office will now be located at 5200 Mount Margaret Drive Belmopan.