7 News Belize

Auction Action
posted (June 17, 2015)

Today, the Queen Street Police Compound in Belize City was crowded with city residents. No, it wasn't a mass police detention; they were there for a bicycle auction. Hundreds of bikes with varying degrees of damage were on sale. Most-likely, they had been seized as part of some crime, or they may have been stolen, but the owners never came to retrieve it.

So, rather than have them sitting around, taking up storage space, and gathering dust and rust, the Police Department regularly sells them off to the public at auctions. 7News stopped by and spoke with a few of the auction winners who got to leave with the rusty, damaged bike of their choice. They told us that with a bit of hard work and investment, all of these old bikes can be restored to almost brand new condition:

Daniel Ortiz

"Why did you pick the opportunity to come out and win this one at the auction?"

Leopold Pineda - Owner of Purchased Bikes

"Because I repair them and fix them up and I got it for my own use."

Daniel Ortiz

"It looks very damaged, how does one fix something like this to a usable state?"

Leopold Pineda

"I have another bike that I take off parts off it and fix it."

Daniel Ortiz

"So you consider this a win for you, a gain?"

Leopold Pineda

"I gan over it, yes."

Daniel Ortiz

"This bike, how much did you win it at auction for?"

Person that Purchased a Bike

"8 dollars."

Daniel Ortiz

"And is this a gain? The quality of the bike it seems that it requires a lot of work."

Person that Purchased a Bike

"Yeah, it will cause me twice or triple the price for what I payed for it to fix it to ride it out from here."

Daniel Ortiz

"At least that's cheaper than in the store right?"

Person that Purchased a Bike

"Of course yes. Problem sometimes people on the street reclaim these bikes back from you. Police take it away from them or somebody stole them and they bring them here and it winds up in the wrong owner's hands."

Daniel Ortiz

"So are you afraid that might happen that you repair it and you might have to give it up?"

Person that Purchased a Bike

"Not after I repair it, right now how it looks."

Daniel Ortiz

"So your task is to get it repaired and change the colour immediately?"

Person that Purchased a Bike

"Yes, immediately."

Daniel Ortiz

"How much did you win today?"

"Duck" Pollard

"Right now I done buy 4 for 10 dollars. I will buy at least 50 bike before the day done."

Daniel Ortiz

"But why purchase them in this quantity? It looks like it's a lot of work to repair them."

"Duck" Pollard

"If i sell one wheel, it will cost 10 dollars to sell on wheel. The rest of parts are profit, the rest of metal is just for scrap metal. They buy scrap metal, they buy aluminium and the rest of wheels can sell. One wheel, all my money is made. Tall order, everything is a profit."

Daniel Ortiz

"Sir, have you done this before?"

"Duck" Pollard

"Every time, every auction you will see my face once there is an auction, I will be there."

Daniel Ortiz

"Ms. Vernice, you just won a bicycle, how much did you pay for it?"

Vernice Jex - Owner of Purchased Bike

"5 dollars."

Daniel Ortiz

"Why come out and participate in this auction?"

Vernice Jex

"Well because my husband say he needed a bike to fix up and I said I was going to come out and get one for him."

Daniel Ortiz

"So, is this is not a profit for you all?"

Vernice Jex

"Yea, he enjoys this."

Daniel Ortiz

"At least you're going to get after all the hard work going to repair it."

Vernice Jex

"This is a nice bike. Because after you paint it and clean it and fix the wheels, it's a good bike."

Daniel Ortiz

"Cheaper than in the stores?"

Vernice Jex

"Exactly."

We'll told that the auction went late into the day. Each new owner got a receipt for their bike from the Department, and the officers took down the particulars from the new owners. A portion of the proceeds of the Auction go to the Police Welfare Fund, which offers assistance to Police Officers. The balance is paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

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