Two days ago, we told you about the climate vulnerability study Dr. Asha Singh conducted on the coastal communities of Belize City, Dangriga, and San Pedro.
Dr. Singh is an international consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That study will inform the best course of action for a joint program from the Green Climate Fund, the FAO, and the Government of Belize called "enhance adaptation planning and increasing climate resilience in the coastal zone and fisheries sector."
During the discussion on her study, Dr. Singh made the point that of the three coastal communities she assessed, Belize City is the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. She also raised the question of whether or not the City's drainage system is doing its job of allowing flood waters to run off.
Engineers at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing have been working assiduously to address a chronic flooding problem in the Mesopotamia community near Belize City's downtown area. And their work has highlighted that the flooding in this neighborhood has several multi-layered causes.
Yesterday, we encountered them during their work on King Street, and Daniel Ortiz has this report:
These streets flood at almost every high tide - and at this time of year when there are "King Tides" - the water can go as high as a foot.
It's a chronic problem and for the past few weeks, engineers and drain cleaners from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing have been trying to clean the drains in the Mesopotamia neighborhood to drain off these flood waters.
Hopefully, these works should provide some relief from the ankle-deep lakes in the middle of these streets.
Rolando Chen - Coordinator, Climate Vulnerability Reduction Program
"We trying to alleviate flooding in this area. This is an IDB-funded project, but also, what we are doing right now is based on trying to alleviate the flooding, as you're saying. And then this is through to some savings that we have obtained from our contracts. So, in this case, we are trying to clean all the drains, specifically Dean and King, and that is directly from Collet Canal to East Canal. Well, we normally know it as East Canal, but some others may know it as South Canal."
And while drainage in areas below sea level poses very specific difficulties, experts say that the residents in this community must also bear responsibility for the deterioration of these drains. Two Households have been identified for pumping sewage into the drain, which caused a build-up of sludge, along with garbage and other debris.
Rolando Chen
"It's not an easy job because, as you look here, what these guys are doing is we have some residents that are still dumping some - I would say connected their sewer into the drains. So, that has an impact on trying to alleviate our problem."
Daniel Ortiz
"House plumbing from the flushing of toilets?"
Rolando Chen
"Yes. We have identified at least two that are still dumping sewer into their drain. What we are doing is that these guys have a special rod that they would push in and then pull so that they can accumulate the material and then just dump it with shovels into the wheelbarrows. Then, from there, they would dump it to our truck on the site a mile and a half, George Price Highway."
According to Chen, a long-term fix for the flood-prone parts of the city like these few blocks isn't as simple as Belize City residents may be misled into believing. He says that rushing into one fix may cause a different kind of flooding problem.
Rolando Chen
"The advantage of Orange Street is that it's a little bit higher than these two areas. And I would say, like, for example, Dean, trying to demolish that - what is existing right now in terms of the concrete pavement definitely and raise it, which would be the ideal situation. We cannot - it's - we are, let's say, unable to do it. Why? Because then, if we bring up the road level, we will definitely have flooding into the residents' properties. So let's say we will be creating another problem. So, that's why we are trying to maintain this as is, just cleaning the drains, culverts, drains, and whatever cover is damaged, it is going to be replaced."
And that's why proper cleaning and maintenance, while not the ideal solution, will have to suffice for now.
Rolando Chen
"I think I would say the main problem here is in terms of maintenance. The hydraulic capacity of most of these drains was practically zero. The flow of water was minimum. So, that's why we had practical in this area - normally, a small rain, any rain, would cause flooding. So we are trying to, as I'm saying, connect everything, but its maintenance will have to be taken by the Belize City Council. We already had a meeting with the Mayor and his team and also with the Bank. So, the intention is to try to keep these drains as clean as possible. But also, we need to emphasize to the public that dumping of their garbage into the drains or onto the streets is blocking some of the, I would say, the drains. So what we are the intention here that we have is also, apart from connecting Dean and King, are also connecting other side streets, which will connect to the Orange Street that we did one year ago, which now, if there is any rain, no flooding occurs in Orange Street. We are trying to make that connection, but that's over almost 3000 meters of drain that we are going to clean."
