No water...that's what most Belizeans woke up to this morning after the water supply was cut when BWSL employees did not show up to work. They sat out or stayed home as a protest and a means of taking direct action against the Musa administration for its decision to implement new tax measures. So at 6:30 this morning, management decided to shutdown operations since they could not ensure a clean, quality controlled supply. With that water outages were affected across the country. Supply has been restored since then but as the protest continues, service will continue to be intermittent, and we'll tell you later how and when your supply will be on.
But first we look to the national picture where acts of arson, vandalism, protest and unrest have been occurring. Keith Swift tells us how it has all been unfolding since very early this morning.
Keith Swift Reporting,
It's in the heart of Belize City, just across from Channel 7's studio, an old wooden building that's very prominent and, early this morning, very prone. Just before 1 am, someone sprinkled the front of the Department of Women's Affairs with kerosene, then doused the side of the building, and then set it on fire. The security guard, who was inside, was alerted to the smoke and called the Fire Department which managed to put it out quickly with only very minor damage to the side of the building.
Then sometime after 3 am in Orange Walk Town, fire officials were called to this building on Barrack Road, the offices of Area Representatives Ismael Cal and Servulo Baeza. The outside shows hardly any damage, but inside, the offices are completely destroyed. At this time, the Fire Department does not know if it is arson or some other cause.
Then back to the outskirts of Belize City at the Haulover Bridge, sometime after 5 am, someone dumped two loads of sand and clay on the center of the bridge, blocking traffic on both sides for over a mile and longer than an hour. At 6 am, fire crews were brought in to use high-pressure hoses to break up the blockage. That didn't finish until nearly 7 am leaving many commuters stranded and anxious, but still supportive of the action.
Commuter #1,
"The protest start already brother. You can see what is going on."
Jules Vasquez,
How long were you waiting?
Commuter #1,
"About half hour already, from 6 o'clock."
Jules Vasquez,
So when you got here what did you see?
Commuter #1,
"I see a whole lot of [expletive] on the highway blocking the bridge and nobody can't enter."
Jules Vasquez,
Like what kind of stuff?
Commuter #1,
"Oil and sand."
Commuter #2,
"Clearly it's going to be a disruption over the next two days. As you know I am also a founder of the Small and Micro-Enterprise and we are against the violence."
Jules Vasquez,
So how long have you been waiting?
Commuter #3,
"Just a couple minutes but I have a friend waiting for me on the other side, I have to reach work."
Jules Vasquez,
Are you surprised they blocked the bridge?
Commuter #3,
"Well not really, they need to do something about the government anyway."
And at about that same time back in Orange Walk, tire tracks show where a large truck, possibly a cane truck ran over a plaque mount for the San Estevan roundabout on the new Orange Walk bypass. By the time our cameras got there the mount had been put back up, but it still showed signs of damage. The significance is that the Prime Minister was scheduled to be there later to officially open the roundabout.
And while isolated acts of unrest were carried out in Orange Walk, at BWSL offices in Belize City and throughout the country BWSL employees just didn't show up to work, or as it appeared in Belize City, just didn't work. Our cameras caught a police team parked in front of their Central American Boulevard Headquarters awaiting any sign of disturbance, and M-16 ready BDF personnel manning the pump room, as workers gathered in the lot, and their leader negotiated on the phone, probably discussing an extended period of water outages staged as a protest.
And protest is just what Belize City's commercial sector had in mind when they shut down today. At the height of the day, the city was at a virtual standstill with established businesses as well as Chinese and Indian stores bringing down their shutters in protest. Not counting small grocery stores and Brodies, which remained opened, about 90% of businesses in the commercial center were closed down. They are also expected to remain closed tomorrow and possibly Saturday, all in protest of the business tax increase which will affect them directly.
And one act of apparent arson that was not included in that story was the destruction of a police booth in the Cayo District. Shortly after 11:00 last night, an unmanned police booth at Red Creek between Esperanza and Santa Elena on the Western Highway which is used only for checkpoints was set on fire.
And while those acts of vandalism and resistance had only isolated occurrences, a national shutdown blanketed the country as businesses nationwide closed their doors in protest against the Musa administration's new tax measures, while others closed down in fear of violence in the streets.
