Two of Belize’s leading industries – telecommunications and agriculture – are among the chief users of Geographic Information Systems in Belize (GIS). Among those Amandala spoke with at Wednesday’s inaugural GIS Expo in Belize were staff of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) and Citrus Growers Association (CGA), who shared with us how GIS has helped them to more effectively perform and respond to the needs of those they serve.
Dwight Gillett, Planning Officer of the Access and Planning Department of Belize Telemedia Limited, demonstrated the use of GIS, with the software MapCom4, in setting up a comprehensive national system that maps out where all BTL connections are located. The system, Gillett noted, improves their efficiency in responding to customer needs, because it improves communication between in-door staff and those working outdoor. Additionally, BTL maps all cell phone cites around the country using GIS software. The system enables BTL to locate areas where their system malfunction and it improves their ability to restore service interruptions.
BTL uses maps provided by the Land Information Center in Belize (LIC) – another GIS user which displayed its features at Wednesday’s Expo. The LIC stores geographic data on leases issued all over Belize and they are able to provide maps for use by local industries.
The CGA finds GIS most valuation in vector control. Ian Rosado, CGA Communications Officer, told our newspaper that CGA uses GIS in four basic areas—three of them in vector control: to fight citrus greening, the Mexican fruit fly infestation, and citrus leprosies. The CGA has also used it in mapping over 43,000 acres of groves. Rosado said that the association is now doing the groundwork to verify the mapping.
How is the technology actually used to fight pests in the citrus industry? Rosado showed a map with various dots – green, white and red – which show various levels of mexfly infestation at certain trap locations. He also pointed to an animation on a computer screen which shows the population of flies in the various traps over period to time.
“If the dot shows red it indicates it is time to spray,” he noted.
He said that there is also a spray program to control the psyllid insect which causes citrus greening.
Loretta Garcia-Palacio, Managing Director of Total Business Solutions in Belize, outlined the goals of GIS, which include equipping students with the relevant skills to operate GIS and promoting GIS as a decision-making tool.
Mary Vasquez, a Belizean trained in the use of GIS and the program director of RESTORE Belize, one of the users of GIS technology, explained the importance of learning the kind of spatial literacy that GIS brings to the community.
“This might seem like a huge task for education because the truth is that we are still struggling with basic read and write literacy. Why now add computer literacy and now spatial literacy?” she questioned. She said that this is not asking too much.
“The world is not becoming less complex. The world is becoming more complex for students and for us to survive and for us to prosper and succeed, we need to keep apace with that so we need education on steroids. We need education to make Belize a prosperous nation within the context of Latin America, the Caribbean and the world,” said Vasquez.