So how and when will families like these get relief or assistance to repair their battered structures?
Tonight, we take a close look at how the Prime Minister and the government intend to roll out emergency relief funding for the families devastated by Hurricane Lisa. Daniel Ortiz has that story from yesterday's emergency response press conference:
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Our preliminary assessment revealed that the greatest impacts were on residential homes, utility poles, agriculture, and some commercial infrastructure. Localized flooding occurred along coastal Belize City and into Ladyville, Vista del Mar, and surrounding neighborhoods. Currently, we have about 278 persons in shelters across the country, mostly in Belize City."
Bernard Wagner - Mayor, Belize City
"It varies across different constituencies. I took a ride through the Port Loyola Area, the Belama phased areas, and the Krooman Lagoon -those areas have been severely impacted."
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"We took a fly-over of Belize City. We saw a lot of roofs and some houses that were damaged. We saw some areas that still had some flooding, especially in Belama Phases 4 and 5. We still have water in those areas. We went into Ladyville, [which] also got substantial damage, also Lords Bank, Hattieville, and then after that, it's mostly agriculture."
Bernard Wagner
"I'm very encouraged, given the meeting we had in Cabinet today, where Cabinet has really pledged toward alleviating some of the immediate sufferings, and that our families are going through, especially those in the shelters and those who may not be in shelters, but may have been affected via the storm."
Okay, so the government officials are well informed about the communities and neighborhoods that were most devastated by Hurricane Lisa. How will they receive urgent disaster relief? Well, according to NEMO, the first priority is attending to the humanitarian needs of the hurricane victims.
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Already, teams of workers are out in the affected areas assessing and addressing the urgent humanitarian assistance, including getting food and water to those most in need."
"We're working with NEMO and the Human Development Ministry, where we have given them the go-ahead to order the amount of food that is necessary, wanting to start with the people who are in the shelters, that they get the food, the mattresses - whatever it is that they need."
Col. Shelton DeFour (Ret'd.) - National Disaster Coordinator
"Right now, we're looking at things like tarps, mattresses, food, and water. Those are the basic things that we will need. As much as we can gather quickly, we have in the Ladyville warehouse a relatively good amount to get on the ground by this evening and tomorrow, and we've ordered 15 hundred food packs, which should be ready by tonight, and so we'll have additional food for tomorrow, mattresses tomorrow, food tomorrow. So, we believe that by this weekend, the vast majority of the people who have been impacted will have some degree of relief."
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"We're also working now with the area representatives to ensure that they also could be able to get some food into their constituencies through the constituency development fund. In all of the areas that were affected, the areas representatives, including the UDP area representatives, will be able to get funding. And, of course, they will have to be able to give full accounting for the money that they get."
And then, there is the recovery and rebuilding phase of the government's relief response mechanism. And once again, the government wants to make the deployment of resources a bipartisan effort.
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"In the recovery, what we'll be doing, again using the area representatives, we're going to be giving them - again - another budget to be able to do small repairs for people who need to fix two sheets of zinc, a little bit of plywood - or whatever - just to keep them going in their homes. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing is doing a complete assessment of the actual repairs and rebuilding of homes that will have to be done in these areas."
Of course, the argument can be made that deploying disaster relief resources through the constituency offices of elected politicians introduces new layers of bureaucracy. The victims may have to line up for meetings with the area rep of their electoral division at their constituency offices. That creates one more layer of potential frustration for residents already suffering, and it also opens the door for the possible corrupt diversion of relief funds.
But, the Prime Minister and his team are approaching this matter with good intentions, in the hopes that the resources will reach the victims faster since their area rep is expected to be in regular communication with his or her constituents.
In fact, he's counting on it as a backup mechanism to ensure that every single storm victim gets the aid that he or she deserves.
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"Because of the limited numbers of people that NEMO has available, and there's this great need, we know we're working through the area representatives. We have been putting monies into what is called the constituency development fund. So, each area rep now has some monies to be able to immediately give assistance to these people. Of course, everybody has to sign for what they receive. There has to be full accountability for this money. So, the area reps being on the ground, they know the people who got hurt and need help and then NEMO to complement what they're doing, we feel pretty confident that nobody will be missed."
The PM says that it is also that same community spirit of collaboration that has moved private civilians to offer their help, free of cost, to clean up the many messes left behind by Hurricane Lisa.
John Briceno - Prime Minister
"6 private contractors have already offered their equipment, free of cost, to help with the cleanup campaign in the Belize District. The Belize Defense Force, along with equipment from the municipal bodies, will be joining the Belize City Council to assist in the clean-up campaign of Belize City and some of the other affected rural communities."
At the next sitting of the House, government will have to seek parliamentary support to approve the public spending that his administration has been engaged in for the relief efforts. That's part of why GOB will require all area reps to provide all receipts for the spending of the funds they will have access to in their constituency vote.
He also added that disbursements would arrive late yesterday or early this morning because the needs are many and urgent.
