BELIZE CITY, Fri. Sept. 25, 2020– As of today, the Southern Highway is now the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway. The highway’s new name was declared today in the House of Representatives, in Belmopan.

The Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway, which is entirely paved, extends from the Mile 6 junction of the Hummingbird Highway from Dangriga all the way to Punta Gorda, a distance of about 97.5 miles.

The Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway provides important access to Mayan archaeological sites such as Nim Li Punit and Lubantun, as well as to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Thomas Vincent Ramos is an iconic Garifuna figure who is the founder of Garifuna Settlement Day (November 19), which is a public and bank holiday on which the Belizean community annually celebrates the arrival of the Garinagu people to the shores of Belize.

The National Institute of History and Culture (NICH) said that in 1923, at age 36, Ramos went to Dangriga, where he was a farmer, a businessman, a candy maker, and a boxing manager, as well as a song composer and writer.

In 1924, Ramos formed the Carib Development Society, which was successful in obtaining 800 acres of land at Sarawee Village, which was later designated as a Carib reserve.

In 1926, he became an active member of the Carib International Burial Fund Society, and he later went on to establish the Colonial Instruction Association and the Independent Manhood and Exodus Uplift Society.

These organizations were all geared towards the advancement of the Garinagu. They provided sick and death benefits and carried out an educational program to benefit members of the Garifuna community.