7 News Belize

Oldest Taxi Stand Moved For Park Renovation
posted (April 22, 2013)
The downtown taxi-stand on Albert street in Belize city - it's probably the oldest taxi stand in Belize – having been there for more than half a century. But tonight, the taxi-men have been unseated from their long held position – as the City Council has a plan to overhaul Battlefield Park. Except no one told the taxi drivers – until it was time for them to move – making it a battle over parking space. 7news has been following the story since Saturday.

Daniel Ortiz reporting
On Saturday, We were called out to the Battlefield Park, where a backhoe was already demolishing the structures inside. The parking area in front of the park is where the Downtown Taxi Cooperative and the Albert Street Taxi Union both operate. They couldn't conduct any business there because the Belize City Council had already plugged the street with steel rods cordoning off the area from in front of the Belize Bank, all the way to Brodies. This effectively evicted all the taxi operators from around this area, without any consultation.

One of the taxi drivers spoke to us about how they were ambushed with the decision to move them, and the accompanying enforcement.

Raymond Blake - Member of Albert Street Taxi Union
"As far as we had heard that they were going to do some renovations in the park. But no one had notified us or given us a letter as far as I know of. They have not given us any letter stating that they were going to move this entire taxi stand from here. I understand that the vendors got letters from the council stating the plans of what was going to happen. They had meeting with them. Yesterday our president along with some of the members went to the City Council to find out about this Taxi Stand and what will be done. They decided to move us from here on Albert Street and take us to the back by Foreshore area after the bus stand. They told us we will be there temporary for three months. After three months then we have to find another place to go and park because they won't have anymore taxi stand out here. That is what the councillors stated to us yesterday about being out here. It used to affect us during the week when were working out here we didn't get as much business and now they will move us by the sea side - that will be even worse. Nobody will want to walk with their bags and luggage all the way at the back there to get a taxi. If you notice they are blocking this entire area out here. So, if people are coming out of Brodies and they are shopping they won't want to walk all the way by the bridge and turn by the clock and come back all the way to us to get a taxi."

That temporary fix would put them out of proximity to the Albert Street shoppers, and they would also have to share with the Downtown Taxi Cooperative.

Albert Robinson - Taxi Operators Being Displaced
"We don't have any problems with whatever they are doing with the park. This park has been renovated for qutie some time and many times it has under gone great renovation. Even when they did the bandstand, Regent and Albert Street - there was no real affect to the taxi stand. I don't know the problem because we were not told in writing; only a little bit of verbal heresay - here and there. We found out that everything came up abruptly. We didn't get anything in writing to notify us to give us time to do whatever we needed to do with conjunction with what they are doing out here."

But the solution that City Hall wanted to implement did not sit well with the officials from the courthouse. So, that temporary resolution did not last more than 2 days.

Albert Robinson
"Temporarily they gave us a spot behind the Court House building, which is another problem with us and the general public. It's like having us invading the spot behind the Court House building where people were accustomed to park. Even the members of the Supreme court or the staff members of the Registry used to park there comfortably."

So today, the Mayor told the media where these operators are now going to be relocated.

Darrell Bradley - Mayor, Belize City
"We are going to locate some of the taxi's exactly where they were located originally just a little bit more on Albert Street. We've identified three spots infront of Brodie's and three spots on Church Street that the other association will occupy. They are going to be placed on a cueing system so that works. That's a temporary fix until the renovation works are completed at the Battlefield Park. That is going to take three months. We anticipate that some of them will be able to go right back to their original position after those works are finished. "

According to Mayor Bradley, it has become necessary to move both the vendors and the taxi operators from around Battlefield Park due to a 394 thousand dollar remodeling project that is commencing post haste. City Hall wants to remodel it after its historical appearance before it was modernized.

Darrell Bradley
"The plans for battlefield park have been in the works for two years. The design that we took for the park has been taken from the master plan project and that was an exercise that they did two years ago under the former administration. Essentially it is to redevelop the park along its historical origin. There will be an area in the park that will be designated for parking for the taxi men. We are going to put a median along the Albert Street area which will help us with more traffic flow. We're going to take in the street between Brodie's and the park and that will be a part of the park; that will be a pedestrian way. We are going to take in the street between the Mule park and Belize Bank and that's also going to be a Pedestrian way. We will construct a fountain. We're going to have an area for marches and demonstrations because that's exactly where the court has the annual opening of the Supreme Court so we are going to allow space for that. The entire area will be turned into green space with park benches and with trees being planted throughout. It's essentially restoring the park to it's historical look."

Bradley also discussed why the taxi operators were blindsided with these renovation works.

Darrell Bradley
"I think it's our biggest problem. I think that people are not against any of the work that we are doing but they are saying that we could do a much better job and I have to admit that that is a failing of this council - especially when you're dealing with people's trade and their business. We have asked the vendors in battlefield park, we have communicated with them the week before last and they have relocated. I'd hope that the same time that we had communicated with the vendors we could have also communicated with the Taxi persons. I understood that that wasn't the case and we only communicated them until late last week."

But, while he attributes this to a simple oversight, the taxi operators say that his actions are inexcusable.

Ernesto Robinson - Taxi Driver
"I think it's disrespectful for the Mayor to do this to us. All of us are trying; we are not stealing we are making an honest living."









Renan Alfaro - Taxi Driver
"The word is that the Mayor is doing what he wants to do. He doesn't consult with anybody; he just does what he wants. We have a union and this taxi stand has been gazzetted so how can he just take it away from us?"

Darrell Bradley
"The thing that people need to appreciate is that progress will bring problems. When one does any kind of infrastructure work, regardless of how much communication is put in place it will negatively affect some person. What we try always to do is mitigate that negative effect and we try go ina very weak way and we have to improve on that but we do try to take every single concern into consideration to ensure that we address concerns where we can."

Even though the Taxi operators will be allowed to return later to their locations in front of the park, they say that the city is temporarily displacing part of its history.

Raymond Blake
"This taxi stand is here as far as I can remember from I was a little boy going to school at Nazarene School on ALbert Street. That was a lot of years ago. That was when all the other men like Mr. Pandy and 'Cold Turkey' were working out here at this Taxi Stand, I was a little boy in school. Now they are going to move this taxi stand completely. One of the oldest Taxi Stand in downtown Albert Street."

Renan Alfaro - Taxi Driver
"This Taxi Stand is here over a hundred years."

Although Renan Alfaro estimates that the Albert Street Taxi stand has been there for more than a 100 years, he's a little ambitious with his dating – since cars only started ot be mass produced one hundred years ago.

Best estimates say the taxi stand has been there for probably about 60 years.

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