If a big hurricane hits Belize City, the nation’s major population center, the most pressing need in the aftermath will be for water, after that food, then dry clothes. Flashlights will be helpful, but doreys will be more important.
Kremandala buildings have a couple floors which serve as hurricane shelters for some of our employees and their families, but our neighbourhood is a very poor one. Devastation will be massive if Belize City experiences a big hit, and we would be overwhelmed by the situation.
We have an idea. We wonder if it is possible for the area representatives of Belize City, especially on the Southside, to find a way to sit together across party political affiliations. There won’t be any constituency lines evident if we get a major hit. All the divisions will become a big mass of human emergency. In fact, the Northside and the Southside will become one under the storm surge, the only difference being that a larger percentage of Northside homeowners and residents will have moved to safe shelters and inland. So the idea would be for the ten Belize City area representatives to find a way to anticipate, and plan areas of cooperation before a disaster.
Parts of Belize Rural Central and Belize Rural North would be badly damaged if a large hurricane hits Belize City, but these constituencies would also likely be the first to be able to offer assistance in the emergency areas of water and food. So, the area representatives of these two constituencies should also be invited to such a planning meeting.
Eight of the twelve area representatives mentioned are UDP. The UDP, however, need to be magnanimous. Hurricanes do not respect party affiliations. Our experiences in 1961 indicate to us that the machinery of government itself becomes overwhelmed by natural disaster of enormous magnitude. That is why the PUP, under the leadership of Rt. Hon. George C. Price, made the monumental decision to move the center of government, inland – to a new city, Belmopan. If there is a major hurricane in Belize City, there would be no government in the old capital for a few days. There would be no UDP and no PUP for a few days. Let our politicians anticipate and prepare, by becoming statesmen before the fact.
Power to the people.