On one side of Caye Caulker is pristine beaches and white sand. And on the other side is this: streets that have basically turned into rivers, forcing residents to wade through the water to get in and out of their homes. And one resident, Anisa Martinez, is calling out the area rep. She explained that those who traverse the Bahia area are suffering with this stagnant water and that the streets need urgent attention. She told us more via Zoom.
Anisa Martinez, Resident, Caye Caulker
"As you can see in the photos that are circulating online, people in wheelchairs are having to navigate those deep waters. The holes are so deep that golf carts can't even pass through them and it's really sad, it triggers me in a way because I'm a member of this community and I have a lot of love for my community members and it saddens me to see. This is the reality that we are facing. And where is the area rep? Nowhere to be found. He's MIA, I haven't seen him on the island in weeks. Where is he? Where is the government? Where is the Ministry of Infrastructure Development? Why is it the Caye Caulker people have to live under these deplorable conditions?"
"It's a beautiful place when the streets are dry and the sun is out, it's a beautiful community, you can see the best sunsets there and it's my personal go to when I need some quiet time and for it to be in this state, in this condition, the area rep should be ashamed."
"Tell me how in the world can we attract the highest caliber of tourists if we can't provide the best caliber of service? How can we do that? By maintaining a clean pristine environment. The village council has been working tirelessly to patch up the streets, they do their part, they try to keep the streets clean and maintained. Unfortunately when the streets get fixed it rains, but that's nobody's fault. My thing is why is the area rep not stepping up when we need him the most?"
"The streets that are getting fixed, it's from the own people of Caye Caulker, our own people, we come together, we pull together our own resources with of course the help of the village council but unfortunately it's not enough. We can only do so much, the people of Caye Caulker can only do so much."
"I don't know what else to do to help the people of Caye Caulker and I'm not going to stop talking about this, I'm going to continue pushing this issue until something is done because it feels that the only way, until we put the pressure on, that's the only way we are going to get a response."
We'll hope to have comment from the area rep tomorrow.
