Two days after northern Belize was assaulted by Hurricane Dean, an estimated 1,000 people flocked to the Corozal Civic Center to get free rice, beans, flour, milk, sugar and other basic food supplies from the Government of Belize, only to find out that they had to leave empty-handed. Some are blaming the fiasco on greedy opportunists, while others are blaming party politics.
A spokesperson of the National Emergency Response Organization’s Emergency Response Center (NEMO ERC) in Corozal Town claimed that the decision was taken because it was obvious that many of the people waiting in the lines were not really people in need. They did not have enough supplies for all those people waiting in line, the official added.
The decision no doubt angered those genuinely in need who had been waiting for over three hours in the heat of the day.
Corozal Town’s UDP Mayor, Hilberto Campos, who is also the deputy chairman of NEMO, said that NEMO has been doing nothing for Corozaleños, and that it is the Town Council that has been distributing water and food and other supplies gotten with help from the business community.
Political issues have, seemingly, interfered even in this time of crisis. Mayor Campos said that he was driven away from the Civic Center after Deputy Prime Minister Vildo Marin indicated to him that things should not be allowed to get political. He said that he told Marin, in response, that he, too, did not belong there and he conceded and left the Civic.
Our sources say Marin ordered NEMO to shut down their relief operations at the Civic. Today, we were unable to reach Minister Marin, the Corozal Bay area representative, regarding the allegations.
According to Campos, the Town Council had received some supplies from business people and would be issuing all those rations today into tonight.
“I don’t understand how NEMO would have a warehouse full of goods and wait three days before deciding to give to people. NEMO is not providing reconstruction assistance,” Campos commented.
He said that all the shelters had been closed down and an entire family that had sought shelter at the Mary Hill shelter had to be placed with the Romero family in Corozal. There is another family still looking for a place to stay.
We sought official comment from NEMO on these concerns, and National Coordinator, Lt. Col. George Lovell, informed us that they will have to carry out an assessment in the town of those people who were really affected by the storm. Those going for rations will be checked against their list. Some form of identification will be required to ensure that the aid goes to the right people.
“Our people are suffering. This is not a time to try and poach off resources that are there for those who desperately need it,” Lovell commented.
He also emphasized that NEMO does not have an infinite amount of supplies, and if people who are not really in need take the free supplies, that will mean that those who are really in need won’t have enough.
Those who can afford to purchase food at the shops should not be relying on relief supplies, Lovell advised.
Meanwhile, other municipalities have been coming to the aid of Corozal residents. We understand that relief supplies have been coming in from Orange Walk and Belize City, and more is due shortly from San Pedro Ambergris Caye.
The Red Cross has also been providing basic food supplies, toiletries, kitchen sets, blankets, and some roofing materials.
By today, all people who had gone to the shelters had been sent home, but those who have lost their homes have had to stay with family or friends.
Some returned from shelters to find that their roofs had been blown off by the strong hurricane force winds, and others were victims of a more sinister evil – those opportunistic thieves who burglarized their homes and stole their zinc and lumber on Tuesday night during the storm.
Hon. Vildo Marin is reportedly issuing home improvement grants of up to $1,000 and loans of up to $3,000 at a rate of 8.5% interest and repayments of $50 a month. With such a generous offer, the PUP office in Corozal Town was today packed with people applying for grants.
Help has also come in from the Royal Navy of England, which has been helping with reconstruction efforts in the affected villages.
“As I spoke to the villagers the main concern is no food and good drinking water, and also the loss of jobs at the papaya industry,” our colleagues at Rainbow FM in Corozal reported. “Food distribution was to take place at 1:00 p.m. at the Civic Center. It just started about 3:00 p.m. People have been in the lines from 12 noon.”
The news station said that when they arrived at the Civic at 1:00 p.m., the time that was announced for rations to be issued, the building was closed.
In a few villages surrounding Corozal, including the most affected villages of Chan Chen (5 miles north of Corozal Town) and Xaibe (located roughly 3 miles outside the town), the story of slow relief and frustration among villagers was not much different.
Rainbow FM visited five of the affected villages. They reported to our newspaper that villagers of Chan Chen have been in lines waiting for food at the community center since 9:00 a.m. today and by 2:00 this afternoon – five hours later – they hadn’t gotten any. Xaibe villagers were, likewise, waiting for several hours for relief.
When Amandala checked with NEMO ERC in Corozal, they informed us that aid was sent to many villagers today, including Chan Chen and Xaibe, as well as other villages such as Caledonia, Progresso, San Roman, Alta Mira, and Chunox. The office did not tell us exactly when that relief arrived, but noted that the people were provided with flour, rice, sugar, shortening, milk, beans, and canned foods such as sausages, and their supplies should be replenished weekly for as long as they need the help.
Meanwhile, drinking water is a problem in the villages. Villagers fear contracting waterborne diseases because the main water sources they traditionally rely on – wells – are filled with dirty water.
Some members of the business community have been benevolent in helping to meet the needs of some of Dean’s victims.
Las Vegas Casino from Commercial Free Zone, which does its own water treatment with reverse osmosis, was providing water to some villagers on the outskirts of town, and companies like Pura Vida and Oasis have also been helping to supply drinking water to affected persons.
Companies from Belize City brought lumber to the Corozal Town Council, and the Town Councils of Orange Walk and San Pedro Ambergris Caye have promised to come to their aid.
The main concern the people nowhave is that they want their living conditions to be restored, so that they can resume their lives. This is especially true for villagers who had wooden houses with thatched roofs, and thus suffered the most damage to their homes.
Even though there are those opportunists who have been trying to make a bad situation worse, there are reports of Good Samaritans who have been helping their neighbors by sharing whatever food supplies they have and even providing them a place to stay while they have no home to go to.
Many of these families have children, some of whom have lost their school supplies and uniform materials that they had gotten for September. School is the last thing on some of their minds, and some are even contemplating sending their children to work to until life gets back to normal.
Even though Belize did not feel the full brunt of Hurricane Dean, the little that did affect us has overturned the lives of thousands of residents of the north.
Col. Lovell said that NEMO estimates indicate that as many as 2,000 people were directly affected in Corozal, but each person was affected in some form by the storm.
NEMO itself is being criticized for a slow response in this national emergency, even though our reports indicate that they have been trying to meet the needs of the people. People making light of the situation who have reported challenges getting through to NEMO officials joke that it is a case of “finding NEMO.”
For our part, however, we had no major problems contacting NEMO for official comment on the Corozal situation, and they proved willing to respond to the complaints and allegations reported to us.
Amid allegations of political games, Lovell went on record to say that he wants the ration distribution to be done only by public officers, as he fears that people will try to use the situation for political gain.
He told us that NEMO would be providing relief supplies for as long as is needed, and currently the foreign assistance committee is working on getting help from abroad.
Mayor Campos said that donations could be made to the Corozal Relief Fund, to Scotia Bank account 12211.
He reported that the $20,000 received in the fund to date has been used to purchase zinc to repair the roofs of damaged homes.