At the top of the newscast, we showed the images from last night’s fire in downtown Belize City. As we mentioned the fire wasn’t fully contained until early this morning. But up until this evening – fire fighters were still on the scene mopping up from the devastating blaze that destroyed 5 structures. The extent of that destruction was evident this morning when we revisited the scene and found millions of dollars in damages. And while there is insurance for the property lost, there is no insurance that put back all the effort that went into those stocked shelves and warehouses. And that’s why the mood at today’s scene was morose. Keith Swift continues our team coverage.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This morning the firefight was over – but downtown Belize City was still in shock. The entire block of Albert Street between Church and Bishop Streets was off limits, Brodies was closed, and so was Church Street while BEL worked on restoring power. A small crowd of business owners and their employees looked on - waiting to pick up the pieces.
Prakash Chainani, Maximum International
“I don’t think there is any thing left.”
Keith Swift,
Can you put a dollar amount on your loss?
Prakash Chainani,
“Difficult to say but I would say somewhere between seventy and eighty thousand dollars worth.”
Keith Swift,
Any of it insured?
Prakash Chainani,
“None at all.”
Keith Swift,
What are you going to do sir?
Prakash Chainani,
“Well start my life all over again.”
Manoj Sharma, Benzer Store
“Right now I feel really bad. You know they say you’re homeless, we are jobless. We can’t open our store and we worry what will happen in the next four or five months – what we are going to do again.”
The nucleus of the fire was the Ro-Mac’s Plaza – and owner Umesh Mahitani says all the contents were destroyed.
Umesh Mahitani, Owner- Ro-Mac’s Plaza
“At the Ro-Mac’s section we lost everything. Just about everything was destroyed in the fire last night.”
Arturo Cantun, LOVE FM
“Do you have any idea what might have caused the fire?”
Umesh Mahitani,
“I have idea and I am really really interested in finding out. I really
would like to find out.”
Keith Swift,
What is the value of the contents that were in the store?
Umesh Mahitani,
“I am not sure. We are still trying to figure it out right now. It was insured yes.”
Arturo Cantun,
“What all was housed in the Ro-Mac’s Plaza?"
Umesh Mahitani,
“You had several stores inside Ro-Mac’s Plaza. You had Cell Mart that did cellular phones and internet and then you had Tenchtronics that did electronics and then you Cosmetic Center that did cosmetics, and on the other side you had Pepper’s Pizza and Celi’s Diner.”
Keith Swift,
What is your next move?
Umesh Mahitani,
“Personally I want to rebuild as quickly as possible. Albert Street is passionate to me so I want to rebuild. Whether the parameters will allow it, I don’t know but I want to rebuild.”
Keith Swift,
Is this in a way déjà vu for you, we know that in 1997 Mikado’s burnt down?
Umesh Mahitani,
“I am kind of numb right so I don’t have any feelings for or against what happened last night.”
But while Mahitani was numb, Icenie Herrera who owns a deli inside the Romac’s Plaza – was emotional.
Icenie Herrera, Ceni’s Deli
“It is like I lose everything and I wasn’t insured, that is the bad part – I wasn’t insured. So it is like I lost everything that I had in there but starting tomorrow I will be right in front of Mikado’s selling food and breakfast.”
But it might not be that easy for CD Plus to reopen. Its owner Naim El-Amin says all his plasma TVs, cell phones, video games, and software have been reduced to this: rubble.
Naim El Amin, CD Plus
“It is a total loss. If I could recover anything it is just a couple
hundred dollars but basically it is a total loss. The entire store is gone.”
Keith Swift,
And you had high priced equipment like flat screen TVs, video games….
Naim El Amin,
“…yeah cell phones, laptops, everything is gone. Totally gone. There is no chance of recovering even my data off my backup computer system and stuff. Even the backup data is gone. It really tests your strength as an individual, especially because I wasn’t insured so the only way I could rebuild now is basically on my name with people that I know. My name is good so if there is any chance of me recovering – it’s only on that.”
Keith Swift,
What’s going to be your next move?
Naim El Amin,
“CD Plus on Dolphin Street reopening as soon as we can, that’s about it.”
And what the fire didn’t consume, El Amin’s family says were stolen from the store. His aunt Josephine Flowers was livid.
Josephine Flowers, El Amin’s Aunt
“When we came back this morning the place was open and his mp3 players,
his cell phones were now on the counter and I am certain they did not walk out during the fire so anybody who has the answer for me needs to come to us because somebody is responsible for taking out his products. He is a hard working young man. He does nothing wrong to anybody. You know half of the Belizean young men are out there doing things. This is the second time and I think it is unfair for them to steal things during a fire. They were out here to protect and I am not sure how somebody got in there if so many security were out here last night with big guns, telling people to stand back.”
Keith Swift,
Who are you blaming?
Josephine Flowers,
“The people who were responsible for securing the place need to answer to us: how come his products are on the counter and not in the case.”
Miguel Landaverde is one of 14 people who live in the apartments above CD Plus and he says his apartment is intact.
Miguel Landaverde, Lives Upstairs of CD Plus
“Upstairs everything is in tact, the fire didn’t get the concrete part of the building, only the wooden part of the building was destroyed. But the apartments in the concrete part of the building, they are all in tact, furniture, and not even the water touched them so everything is cool.”
Keith Swift,
So did you lose anything?
Miguel Landaverde,
“Actually nobody lost nothing right now, everybody that live in the apartments, they didn’t lose nothing – not even water damage or nothing so we can’t complain right now. The fire fighters they did a good job.”
And while the damage to buildings, merchandise, and inventory is extensive and will be expensive to replace – one variable that you cannot put a dollar figure on is the amount of people who may be jobless because of the fire. Among Ro-Mac’s Plaza, the Thrift Center, and CD Plus there were roughly 70 people employed. This morning they had no work place to report to and the bad news is that for most of them it will remain that way for a while.
Umesh Mahitani,
“There is not much we could do except maybe possibly absorb the staff primarily in this store or another store that we also associate with and maybe do some retail business from the warehouse point but we’re not sure as to how we will deal with that.”
Keith Swift,
How many people worked inside the plaza?
Umesh Mahitani,
“I think it is about 32…18 directly for me.”
Keith Swift,
Will you keep on your employees?
Naim El Amin,
“If I can yes. Maybe we will be off for a while but all my employees are good and I am really satisfied with them so if I can I will.”
Phillip Willoughby, City Emergency Coordinator
“All efforts will be made in assisting these persons finding gainful employment once again. As soon as possible all efforts will be made. After I speak with the owners from the establishments as to what they will do, I will do my utmost best and put my best efforts forward to get these people re-employed.”
After touring the area- NEMO Minister Melvin Hulse says government will do what it can.
Hon. Melvin Hulse, Minister in Charge of NEMO
“Most of the people in downtown are serious experienced business people. I am sure that the losses will be minimized by the adequate insurance that they have. The private sector is very proactive and a serious group of people. When disaster hits them, you seem them respond very quickly. So I can’t anticipate that this will sit down in a vacuum for a long period of time. They are going to quickly energize themselves and themselves back on their foot.”
Keith Swift,
Will government be offering any financial help to them though, for those who may not have had insurance?
Hon. Melvin Hulse,
“Well Keith that would be presumptuous and too quick to make an assessment – we are not sure who all have gotten affected, we don’t know to the extent and so it would be presumptuous as a prop to say ‘oh yeah boy we will jump up.’ We have to be more responsible than that and meet with them.”
And help is definitely what the Alberts will need to bounce back
Neither the Fire Department nor the National Emergency Management Organisation had an estimate of the losses. That is because storeowners and insurance companies are still completing assessments. You can contact the City’s Emergency Coordinator Philip Willoughby at the City Council or on his cell at 621-9222.
And motorists should note that Albert Street between Church and Bishop Streets is still closed to traffic and so is Church Street. The city council says it is waiting for an “ok” from the Fire Department to re-open it.
