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Today in the House, the recently appointed Minister of Disaster Risk Management gave an overview of the damage and the footprint of the fire:
Andre Perez, Minister of Disaster Risk Management "Our initial damage assessment report indicates that over 250 families have been affected by the raging fires. And these numbers continue to rise every day. Several hundred acres of farmland and homes have been destroyed by raging fires. In particular I was last night. Mr. Speaker, I want to share the sad news. Two homes were lost in the Blue Creek area of the Toledo district"
"Today. There are still communities that remain at risk with these fires. As recently as I said last night, villagers in San Miguel, Silver Creek and Blue Creek were waging battles with the incessant flames. We have had reports of fires as far as north as Altun Ha and as far west as in Benque Viejo. In the mountain Pine Ridge. Over 10,000 hectares of forests have been affected by wildfires."
"That is approximately 34,000 acres of land of Pine Ridge. The initial DNNA report is showing over $8 million in damages estimated so far. The full extent of the impact on agriculture remains on assessed due to the continuous threat of wildfires unvailing due to the unrelenting hot and dry weather conditions. Mr. Speaker, the full impact will only be understood when we analyze not only the damages, but also the losses that our people have suffered."
"This is a situation that we are dealing with today in Belize. Unprecedented fires appearing in parts of our country where they had never been an issue, spreading rapidly in paths of destruction. As we speak, communities in Toledo, and Cayo alongside the BDF and other partners are in the fields continuing the battle against an unforgiving enemy which threatens to consume their homes and livelihoods."
"Simply put, fires have engulfed Belize. We are not alone as we are seeing our neighboring countries struggling with the same problem. Communities and NGO partners across the country have been forced to mobilize to fight these fires that continue to appear at an alarming rate. And I want to share with you all that for now, we have allocated from the contingency funds of NEMO 500,000 dollars right now to fight for the bushfire relief in the south and Cayo as well."
"So that's one that we are doing a great work along with the Red Cross, also providing assistance as well."
