BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 17, 2018– A Christmas tree lighting ceremony took place last Saturday night in Battlefield Park, in downtown Belize City, where Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner and his team of councilors gathered for the lighting of a first-of- its-kind—a mega Christmas tree towering 60 feet in the open space with thousands of multicolored lights—witnessed by a large crowd of city residents who came out to be a part of the ceremony.

Tonight, Mayor Wagner told us that the tree is a part of a larger plan that is geared to enhancing the area.

“The Council and I decided that we want to put up a tree. But I didn’t want just any tree,” Mayor Wagner explained, “I wanted something huge, something special.”

Mayor Wagner said that initially, the plan was to look at a tree from the Mountain Pine Ridge area.  “When we contacted the people who deal with trees from the pine ridge, however, there were some logistical issues that we ran into,” he explained.

“They did not have any tree so big, and besides, we would have to transport it, and set it up in such a way as to avoid accidents, and then make provisions for watering it so that it stays green throughout the holiday season,” Mayor Wagner said.

Eventually, their search took them online, where they located the tree in Merida, Mexico.

“Once we decided on the tree, we got this company in Merida who came in to set it up and give us all the technical assistance we needed to use the tree and to take it down when we are finished using it”, the mayor said.

“As a council, we did not want to take on the cost of the tree,” Mayor Wagner added.

“The business community took on the cost of the tree; we did not have to spend any money and it’s a ten-year investment. This tree will outlast the life of the council”, he said.

“It’s not like a concert where you go and spend $90,000 and the next day that money is gone. This tree will be around for a long time,” Mayor Wagner said.

The tree is lighted with 90,000 lights.

“It has almost as much lights as the amount of people living in Belize City. I am happy to have been able to light up the lives of our people who go shopping in the downtown areas at night during the festive holiday season,” Mayor Wagner stated.