7 News Belize

A Multi-Million Dollar Youth Center For Southside
posted (April 4, 2016)
4.6 million dollars will go into the construction of a brand new youth facility in the Lake I Community on Chetumal Street - south. The construction of this facility is a part of a wider Youth and Community Transformation Project that is being funded in part by the Government of Belize and the Caribbean Development Bank. Today, after almost 4 years of planning the ground was finally broken at a ceremony to mark the commencement of the works.

Melissa Miralda, Human Dev. Coord. - Rehab Dept.
"Welcome to the Lake independence Resource Center ground breaking ceremony. This is an occasion whose time has come after years of planning and aspirations towards the commencement of this essential facility. I can attest that this dream has been shared by our director Miss Bradley for some time now. We dreamt of a space that is protected and safe, that is owned by the communities and where the germination such as sports, arts and culture, literacy and life skills to be honed and shared."

Judith Alpuche, C.E.O - Ministry of Human Development
"As you see we have the ground breaking at the start of April, so the expectation is that by September, the building should be completed at a cost of around 4.6 million dollars. The Lake Independence Resource Center is intended to really provide a safe space in this community, focusing on young people and focusing on families. There will be sporting facilities within the resource center as well as spaces for us to provide parenting, training for job preparedness, conflict resolutions, skills training, life skills on a whole and a number of other programs that we are currently undertaking."

Anthony "Boots" Martinez, Minister of Human Development
"I think that I support it wholly because by extension, this project is not only for Lake Independence you know; it is for the south side. Fortunate enough that Lake Independence had the land space and the infrastructural project running through it and so it is very welcomed. At the end of the day it's something that I fully support. I think that my constituency and other constituencies especially from the south side will utilize this project completely."

The Lake Independence Resource Center will be managed by the Community Rehabilitation Department, an arm of the Ministry of Human Development. According to them they hope to reach out to over 1,500 persons in the surrounding communities of Lake I, Collet and Port Loyola over the course of the next three years. Works are to be done through a joint venture between Southwest construction Limited and Woodbrick and Stone Company limited. According to the Ministry, they hope to have a fully functioning Youth facility in Lake I by September of this year.

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