This morning, 4 families living in the Conch Shell Bay area got new houses from the Ministry of Human Development. Conch Shell is one of those enduring slums in Belize City, and in the months before 2015 elections season, the City Council promised the residents from this poor neighborhood that they would get badly needed help to improve their standard of living.
Well that promise vaporized like election ether, but, today, the area representative - in a move that had nothing to do with the city council - handed over the keys for 12 houses. These dozen "starter homes" were paid for by the OPEC Fund for the Southside Poverty Alleviation Project.
Here's what the new homeowners had to say:
Each house is a modest low-income home costing around 26 thousand dollars to about 30 thousand dollars. Each has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, a living room, and a front and back exit.
The other 8 houses will be handed over to the new owners later on in the week. Area Rep Tracy Taegar Panton estimated that about 50 residents of this community will benefit from better housing.
