Over the last decade, the city of Belize has grown exponentially with streets and roads being "licked out" before planners can even figure out where they should go. Presently, the city has over Seven hundred streets, including alleys and boulevards. Of that seven hundred, only 400 are currently named. And, that's why Mayor Zenaida Moya told Jim McFadzean today that the project to name the more than 300 streets remaining is of great priority for the council.....
Zenaida Moya-Flowers, Mayor of Belize City
"There is a lot of them, you have the fireman, they need to know where they are going. Of course you have the paramedics at any given time, so the first response team the police officers need to have direct access to streets so that they can map out particular areas and know how to deal with certain emergencies, our city emergency management organization CEMO. This is important for us for those very reasons that I spoke to you about because at any given time we need to know if there's any emergency situation, we need to be able to say 'ok, this is this particular area, who we should be working with in this particular area' there is a lot of factors also that is involve when it comes to specific
areas. We will be addressing those. The criteria also in terms of the naming street is such also that contributes as to why we are doing this as well because a lot of people have stop and spoken to me and said, 'Mayor, I feel that such person should be acknowledged' he or she may no longer be alive, he or she may be alive and those people should be acknowledged. When people are coming up to you and say this person, sometimes you don't know who are these people, they will inform you of the background of these people and a lot of people have not been acknowledged and I want to say that you don't wait for someone to die for them to be acknowledged."
Jim McFadzean
"And now you have established a committee to assist in arriving at the names for these new streets?"
Zenaida Moya-Flowers
"Yes, we have arrive it's a non-partisan committee because we want that who are acknowledged is regardless of your political affiliation, it will be because you have contributed in specific areas. Some of the areas that have already been thrown out for example we have definitely some of our artists, public officers from notable police officers, ex-servicemen league, person from the clergy as well we have individuals, old teachers, people from the medical profession, definitely old past mayors as well. There will be different areas of persons that will be acknowledged. This list is not exhaustive because we do want to have a broad base because people are within many different areas, there is a lot of unsung heroes that need to be acknowledge, civil leaders as well and we need to get in there and make sure that they are properly recognized."
The Mayor says the effort underway to name the streets will come from a non-partisan committee and will have the input from a group of notable Belizeans, including representatives of the various utility companies and the Belize Post Office.
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