In June of last year, City Mayor Zenaida Moya Flowers told Seven News that she had appointed the members of a non-partisan committee to come up with names for more than 300 city streets that were nameless.
At the time, this is what she told us about the criteria employed to come up with the new street names.
Zenaida Moya-Flowers, Mayor of Belize City
"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."
Today exactly eight months after that interview, the Mayor along with members of the City Council Street Naming Committee started naming those streets with an official launch.
The streets will be named after 34 distinguished educators.
The ceremony was held at the school grounds of the Unity Presbyterian Primary School. Captain Nicholas Sanchez a city historian and tour guide spoke fondly of two of those educators.
Captain Nicholas Sanchez: City Historian
"Folks we should never forget these people, they look after us, they taught us, they did everything, and as far as I am concerned they will live forever. About twenty years ago I drove from Vancouver British Columbia Canada to Belize with my younger brother Ernesto, and I am sure today when I phone him, when I speak with him tonight, and tell him Mrs. Hilda Forman - a street is named in her honor, he will be really pleased. Even more so on his aunt Daisy Hornby. Because aunt
Daisy never taught us what Mrs. Hilda did. And I am sure he will be very pleased to hear that some recognition - and as long as there is a Belize City and there are streets in this Belize City, all of these educators, will be forever enshrined in our minds and we will also know what the name means, like Hilda Forman - teacher, Daisy Hornby - teacher Owen Morrison - teacher. "
Belize City has more than Seven hundred streets, including alleys and boulevards. Of that seven hundred, only 400 are currently named.
Email
Print