If you ever had to wait at the bus stop at the corner of Foreshore and Regent Street just across from the Supreme Court building then you know just how frustration it can be standing for some time either on a hot or rainy day. Well if you have been into the downtown area of Belize City for the past several weeks then you may have noticed that those who use the public transportation service not only have a roof above their heads but they have also been able to rest their weary feet. That’s thanks to a colourful bus shed built through the kind sponsorship of Smart in conjunction with the Belize City Council’s Upliftment and Beautification Programme.
Today the symbolic ribbon cutting ceremony was held. But that wasn’t the only ribbon cut; just across the street inside the Battlefield Park the doors finally opened to another much needed public facility that promise to bring relief to all those who use it. According to Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya the female and male restrooms are the first in many that they plan to make available within the new tourism zone area that they trying to establish.
Zenaida Moya-Flowers, Mayor
“In terms of the bathroom, this is something that we have acknowledged
that is needed particularly in the downtown area to assist both our local shoppers that would traffic this area who for some reason or the other may need to use it but they would not be able to just go to any facility and facility and be able to use theirs. Also for our international visitors, often it is said that when they walk downtown Belize City, which we want them to, because we want to boost the local economy right here in Belize City, they will not have places to immediately go to if they need to use it. It is a facility whereby I believe people will feel more comfortable being able to come down here, even mothers with their children won’t feel too bad that okay they have to take their kids and they won’t have any place to use. Now they will have a very clean facility and it is also a part of our own tourism endeavour to ensure that we provide the necessary facilities to accommodate local and international visitors.
Our whole endeavour is to ensure that downtown becomes more alive. As it pertains to the bus stop, again that feeds right into our own traffic management that we have ongoing whereby we will try to provide safe and adequate facilities to really have the users and we have a lot of bus users who they will be here but they will not have the particular facilities to be able to sit down if it rains or even if they are tired just to wait there. We want to ensure that it is standardized in terms of the bus stops and we’ve been working with the different business communities to ensure that they also participate in this endeavour.”
And while the restrooms will be available to both visitors and locals there will be a small fee charged. The money will e used to properly maintain the public facilities. A caretaker will be posted twenty four/seven. 7News would like to give special thanks to our summer newsroom assistant Emaun Hyde who interviewed the Belize City Mayor for the story. In related news Mayor Zenaida–Flowers says a part of the upliftment and beautification project, the second floor of the commercial building will be transformed into a modern food court that will provide a panoramic view of the downtown area of Belize City.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
