If ever there was a village with a split personality disorder, it would be Arenal. Half the village is on the Belize side of the border and the other in Guatemala. The symbolic border markers is the midfield line on the village football field. But even with the strange situation, over the years, the villagers of Arenal, about 180 families Belizean and Guatemalan have learned to live together even when Guatemala City and Belmopan tells them they should be apart. But now, officialdom has sanctioned unity in that bi-national community with a new water system.
Yesterday the Ministry of National Development, Investment and Culture and the District of Peten signed a memorandum of understanding for Arenal-Belize to provide potable water to Arenal-Guatemala. This means resident on the Guatemalan side will get water from a system funded and constructed by Belize's Social Investment Fund. Its confidence building on another level, and Alfonso Noble traveled to Arenal to find out more.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Looking at these children from the border village of Arenal in the Cayo District there is no way of telling if they are Belizean or Guatemalan citizens. It is in this same vain of no knowing or really not caring what citizenship residents of the area are that water is being dispensed to villagers living in Arenal- Guatemalan territory.
Hugh O'Brien,
"An intention of this MOU is for Arenal-Belize to provide water to Arenal-Guatemala. Presently there are 86 families connected to the water system on the Belize side and on the Guatemalan side, there is a demand by 89 families, and that is apart from the school and the health center that exists on that side. The school on the Guatemalan side is presently connected. We do have a connection for the school because of the fact that there are many kids who go there and we want to make sure those kids have access to potable water. So this will bring the total consumer base to a little over 160, close to 170, or so. There will be one meter to be put on the Guatemalan side and that water meter is what the Belize side will use to charge the Guatemalan side for water. The distribution of water on the Guatemalan side and the metering of people, collecting the monies from people on that aide, will be done by the community development unit that operates out of Arenal, Guatemala; the equivalence of our water board and village council combined."
The Ministry of National Development's Chief Executive Officer, Hugh O'Brien, signed the documents formalizing this proposal. The idea is to supply residents of Arenal-Guatemala with potable water. Presently they have to access this life giving liquid from the nearby river making it a laborious and not so healthy endeavor. This practice has authorities, in particular those from the Organization of American States, concerned.
"The problem between Belize and Guatemala is not only the historical problem about the territorial differendum, the poverty is the problem of today and that is why this agreement today gives the people in Guatemala a solution."
Poverty being a consideration, another too is that of confidence building. The question now is that if the village of Arenal both on Belizean and Guatemalan territory is being forced into participation in the confidence building era.
Hugh O'Brien,
"We are pressured by the villagers themselves. The villagers on both side, if you notice the attendance today was very supportive, the kids here they play---one good thing is they have one football field and they have been sharing that football field ever since so we have vivid examples on the ground of how these people have lived together and worked together. And if you listened to the speeches given by the various representatives, they wanted this for a long time. Belize-Arenal came to us and said they wanted to this and we wanted them to have support from the highest levels."
"This activity is exactly under the spirit of the agreement, the confidence building measures recently signed in Washington in September 7th last year. It is a concrete construct of the friendship, the relationship, between both countries and the great advance for the community in Arenal Belie and Guatemala."
But goodwill aside, there is still the question of economics. That is who will pay for the water consumed? To this O'Brien says the Guatemalans will have to pay their fair share.
Hugh O'Brien,
"These people have intermarried, they've lived together for a long time. On the Belize side of the border you have electricity and you have potable water. This system was installed in 2003 and from way back in 2003 there was a gesture of goodwill that the people on the Belize side wanted to supply water to the Guatemalan side. The second thing is that the present capacity of the system is a 20,000 gallon storage tank but the people here fill once every two days so providing water to Guatemalan side is not going to put any pressure on the system on the Belize side. What it will actually do is optimize the use of the system and reduce the opportunity cost of operating the system. So the price to produce a gallon of water will lower now. The Guatemalan side has asked us to seriously consider electricity but that one is a bit more delicate because we are talking here about a private company, its not a direct government entity and there will most likely be no way of our electricity company having jurisdiction over the Guatemalan side. So that will be much more complicated so we have not entertained that at this point but I am sure that as the discussions go on maybe something becomes workable."
And that had better be the case because this village that has always shared a football field that sits smack in the middle of Belize and Guatemala will now be looked at as the model of Belize-Guatemala relations in this post-confidence building era. In particular because it is Belize extending a gesture of goodwill to a community not always ready to access it.
There are 89 families on the Belize side and public facilities such as the primary school, police station and health center presently use potable water system, but on the Guatemalan side, only the school is currently connected. The MOU envisions that the 86 Guatemalan families on the Guatemalan side will receive water from the system. As for charges....well a main meter will be installed to measure the total volume of water provided to Arenal Guatemala, and a fee of one cent Belize per gallon will be charged. But management of the water distribution system in Guatemala, and collection of the monthly fee from the Guatemalan residents will be administered by a newly appointed water board in Arenal Guatemala.
