It may have been a heady political platform some years ago, but today the sight of so-called London Bridges in the southside of Belize City scattered across port Loyola, Collet and Lake I areas is a surprise to no one. But those unsightly bridges are only a symptom of a much bigger problem, which is the lack of urban planning, in a city where people must come to live to find work. Now the issue of improper planning and the slow pressing of land documents has crept over to the north side.
Over the past few years phase four of Belama has been developing but unlike the first three phases, it is a haphazard, ramshackle kind of urban spread. Alfonso Noble visited.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
This patch of mangroves is the barrier between Belama phase 3 and phase four. Because it blocks the view, most can't even imagine what lies beyond and most wouldn't want to, it is a growing ghetto. We found this man perched atop one of the mangroves cutting bush sticks to build London bridges.
This wooden bridge built by residents of Belama Phase Four is one of only two real connections between phase three and phase four. Everything else is disconnect.
Alfonso Noble,
Under what conditions do you live?
Ana Rosa Antunes, Resident
"Deplorable...no water, no electricity."
Miguel Bonilla, Resident
"We don't have water, light. It is a lot of problems. Somebody brought water for me and light. I got a lot of problem with water."
Ana Rosa Antunes,
"We live on top of the water we make bridges to walk on. There is a lot of sickness. There is also a lot of danger because crocodiles come very close. We have to be careful with our children because something could happen to them. We have a lot of snakes, in the house everyday."
Ricardo Landaverde, Resident
"A lot of people have their meter back here and we are sharing from across there. People are running their own pipe to bring their water to the house and some of them back their water. We are in a serious situation here where we need for example water, light, people are punishing back here and we don't have any help from the government."
And not getting help from government, these denizens of the underbelly resort to helping themselves as best they could. That means that they have to lay out pipes running for hundreds of yards from the metered connections on the periphery of Belama Phase 3 to the new area of squatting in phase 4. Then there is electricity, pretty much the same thing is done, rolls of cables dangle across the creek and snake their way into the various houses. These are suspended on mangrove sticks making it look like a gathering cobweb of wires. Cable is made available very much in the same way.
That's the utilities. Then there's the matter of access to the houses that are perched on stilts above the swamp. Like in the southside of Belize City: the residents here have learned by example. That example is you've got to build the so-called London bridges. With all these complications, these residents say they only want fair treatment.
Miguel Bonilla,
"We would want that they put light and water so we can live good because it's a lot of problems. A lot of us gathered together but nobody accepts our requests because its not approved that we be here. There needs to be an authorization."
Ana Rosa Antunes,
"We would want that they give permission to get light, water that's the most important thing. That's what I would ask for and that streets be opened maybe that way the water goes."
Ricardo Landaverde,
"I feel like they forgot us."
A recurring sentiment in areas developed without plans where infrastructural chaos abounds, and conditions and scenes like this persist.
Most of the residents in the phase four area are immigrants and most of them have legal status in Belize.
