Thursday, October 16, 2008

Depression & Dilapidation

So, as I drove into Belize City from the airport this morning these were my observations.

1) Potholes, potato holes, elephant holes EVERYWHERE. Drivers dodging the ones they can, but in the end they get you. Every year it is the same excuses. Find the money, fix the road and stop blaming the swamp and rain. If we can send a man to the moon, then surely we can solve this.

2) Uncut medians....they look as though they haven't been cut in months....wait...they haven't. Get on with it Citco.

3) Skyscraper grass on every open lot. For God's sake Citco..make yourself some money and clamp down on these people and start issuing tickets....wait...oh...forgot...no political will.

4) Garbage EVERYWHERE....and no Mr Dean O. this is not business house garbage that you claim is the problem..these are water bags, soft drink bottles, and BBQ containers. The stuff that plain ole prideless citizens deposit wherever they feel like.

5) Busses stopping every 10 feet. Can we please open the book on the world standards on bus stops. This is so easy to correct with a little management and enforcement.

6) School kids and workers dashing across the highway wherever they feel like it. Not only are they not using the overhead walkway, but they are jay walking all over the highway. Not only is it dangerous but it doesn't help the traffic situation at all.

7) Street Signs down. What little there are have fallen and can't seem to get up. Yes, the same "make up a sign color that is not international standards" fluorescent green ones that say we should go 15 MPH. I have a book on Sign Standards if Citco would like to borrow.

8) Clogged drains. Not only are they clogged but they are overflowing with marrass.  Yuck!

So, when you combine all of this with the general lack of zoning and untidiness of the city, why would anyone in their right mind want to live in Belize City or must less come and visit.

And we wonder why everyone is fleeing Belize and tourists are rating Belize city as a horrible experience.

Please do something Citco...I am begging you.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

why should citco do anything? They have a nice little contract, and are getting paid (well sort of - as long as big gov bails the council out each time).

The old problems are enforcement and lack of political will - as u mention in your post. Surely there is a contract between the council and the citco with performance levels (or do i hope for too much??). If those levels are not met then the contract is torn up, bring the next lot in who can deliver.

If you go to get your car serviced, and the garage doesn't service it, do you still pay for the service? No. So why do the council continue throwing money down the drain (sorry couldn't resist!) at a company who are not delivering?

Perhaps 'cos we hv a council run by a major who has been paying herself too much, and 'cos the rest are all part-time.

The Voice said...

Most of what you're complaining about is due to society's lack of control {garbage, traffic accidents leading to downed signs, or vandalism}

Citco, it seems to me, don't have the resources to do what you ask. Should they do it, that's their purpose. But they're broke, and as you pointed out in an earlier blog, we have a budget shortfall, so where will the money come from?

Also, we live in a developing nation... I'm not saying we should live like pigs and animals, but development won't progress at the speed you want. Sorry... it's not happening.

I'll draw up a cost estimate of all you complained about {excluding the cost of changing the way the public thinks}

So many villages are under water, the Kendall bridge needs to be replaced... it will take time, my brother, time. I know you frustrated... do something about it. Organize a community clean up... you can! It won't take much except a few community meetings and talking to people.

Belize City is not pleasant. It's not organized, and logically, it's in a bad place, the middle of a swamp. But it's your home, and mine... we choose to live there. We can only do our best. Slowly but surely.

*I feel you about the drains most of all. I wish I could redesign the city, but where would I ever get the $$$ from?

Trazidex said...

The money can come from simple law ENFORCEMENT fines.

$20 per littering offense etc.

Developing nation?...there are lots of developing nations with decent infrastructure. Using that we are developing nation is not a valid excuse for lower standards.

Will draw you up a cost estimate of doing nothing as well;^)

You must start somewhere. you cannot look at the problem in its totality of dinero. You work at the problem one street at a time, one drain at a time, one sign at a time.

What Citco needs is good management and the political will to start. They have neither.


The mental commitment to try to do it half the battle.