| For the past few months, personnel from the US Military's Southern Command have been in Belize. They've been working with the Belize Defence Force under the New Horizons program to provide training, and to build classrooms and medical facilities.
This year's new Horizons effort led the construction of 4 new classrooms in the Belize District at Edward P. York High School, Hattieville Government School, Sadie Vernon High School, and Stella Maris School. also, under New Horizons, a brand new medical unit was built at the Western Regional Hospital, and the US SouthCom's doctors saw over 7,000 patients while here.
This year's session officially came an end with a ceremony this afternoon at the newly built classroom building at the Hattieville Government School, and 7News attended.
Brigadier General David Jones, Commander, B.D.F.
"This is a project that we try to get from the US military as often as possible. In the past they use to come at least once every 4 years. We've had it back to back now and we are trying to it again at least by 2016. They have already confirmed they are going to come back. What New Horizon does is provide infrastructure projects specifically for schools and medical facilities. This year they did 4 schools; this one here at Hattieville, one at Edward P Yorke, one at Sadie Vernon and the other at Crooked Tree. They also did a hospital In Belmopan which is an excellent facility."
Dr. Peter Allen, C.E.O., Ministry of Health
"We've hosted clinics in different parts of Corozal District and different parts of Toledo District. We've had surgical clinics, especially focusing on urology at Karl Heusner and even now as we speak we have dental clinics still going on in Belize City for a full range of restorative services. So we've seen through those particular processes over 8,000 patients, but there is actually close to 20,000 and counters with different patients who've seen different specialties for several things, so it's been a really excellent and very productive partnership. We are very grateful for US Southern Command, we are very grateful for the BDF's involvement, we are very grateful for our own people who been working very closely with the members of the New Horizon task force and as you know we also constructed an extension to the Western Regional Hospital - a brand new acute psychiatric unit right in Belmopan. Excellent work constructed probably a value of over a million dollars and of course at no cost to the Belizean tax payers, so we are very grateful for that assistance."
Carlos Moreno, US Ambassador to Belize
"In all honesty be more proud than I am of the work that the individuals who came together here to build this school and this room - I just couldn't be more proud than that."
Brigadier General David Jones says that he's already lobbied the US Government to ensure that New Horizons comes back to Belize in 2016.
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