Belize City Completes Drainage Project Ahead of Rainy Season

On a more local perspective when it comes to flood waters, the Belize City Council recently concluded an intense project on the city’s drainage.  The project targeted the hotspots that are prone to flooding and also included a thorough inspection of the drainage system.  According to Mayor Bernard Wagner, the council ensured that the undertaking was completed in time for the rainy season, and was done using in-house workers.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “Our sanitation, our works team have been on the ground, right, early January we have been on the ground really looking at how we shape some of the drains across the city especially in the flood prone areas. I saw some of the work that our works team did on the Central American Boulevard. Some of the drains that are really concrete bottom had sludge, extensive sludge built up over the years and our team were able to get in there on the ground, took out tremendous amount of material. We did that as well in the North Front Street area when you come off the Belchina Bridge. We did some of those clearing in the West Landivar area along the King Street, Orange Street area as well to ensure that the drains are cleared, culverts are cleared so that water, accumulation of water can flow pretty easy into the canals and then the canals will then direct that out into the rivers and the rivers out into the sea because it has to be about ensuring that there is connectivity between the arteries that drain water out of the city.”

Additionally, Mayor Wagner says a thorough inspection was done on the integrity of the more than one hundred streets that the council has cemented under his leadership.

Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City: “And as you know prior to the election we had did close to 127 streets. And so we ensured that all those streets that were constructed, that the drains were cleared, that new culverts were put in place, so as to ensure that there is no deterioration in the infrastructure. That was one of our key objectives to ensure that if we are doing new streets we have to ensure that drains and culverts are put in place. And that has been the results as you see the outcomes in this early part of the rainy season that water is not holding long. When you compare it with Miami, I saw Miami underwater this past week, but it’s climate change. And Chetumal, residents have to be aware that climate change is upon us and so we have to adapt. There will never be a time again where rain will occur and you will not see some measure of flooding. It’s happening globally all across the world and so we have to as residents in the city and as leaders in the city do mitigation and do adaptation. That is very important as we chart the way forward in dealing with flooding across the city.”