Minister Godfrey Smith, Inspector James Moreira, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr. and Mayor Elsa Paz

    The purpose of this visit was for the Minister to get a brief explanation behind SPEC's operations. Present at this gathering were SPEC Chairperson Area Representative Manuel Heredia Jr., Vice Chairperson Mayor Elsa Paz, Operations Officer James Janmohamed, Commandant of the Belize Defense Force - Brigadier General Cedric Borland, SPEC members, Inspector James Moreira, San Pedro Town Council ors, and other key island leaders.

    Facilitating this forum was NEMO District Coordinator/SPEC Operations Officer James Janmohamed who introduced Area Representative Manuel Heredia Jr. to give the welcome address. During the briefing, Mr. Janmohamed stated that during a hurricane, San Pedro's main priority is evacuation. He continued to say that, although this is their main concern, in the past, they have found that approximately 2,000 people refuse to evacuate the island. Mr. Janmohamed stated that SPEC has three evacuation routes via water: to Corozal, to Belize City, and to Bomba. The other route is via flights to the mainland and to the International Airport for tourists or residents wishing to depart Belize. Mr. Janmohamed went on to say that, in the past, one of the main problems they have faced is that "other organizations" try to run things their own way and thus hinder the Committee's plans. He also mentioned that another problem his committee has faced is communication. To alleviate this, Mr. Janmohamed mentioned that the San Pedro Town Council, the Belize Defense Force and NEMO are now equipped with radios that will allow for better communication.

    Questions arising from this gathering included whether the Committee experienced any problems when people returned to the island after the hurricane. To this, Operations Officer Janmohamed responded that more time was needed to prepare San Pedro and make it fit for residents, as the island infrastructure experiences many problems, especially with sewerage. In order to prevent a possible epidemic, after the Green Flag is raised, he suggested mainland shelters remain open and people be requested to remain in them longer, until these problems can be dealt with properly. He also recommended that, in order to alleviate any possible misunderstandings, that no politicians should manage relief supplies as this will always be seen as a politically corrupt situation.

    Before closing, Mayor Elsa Paz requested that the Minister ask government to carefully consider the matter of sewerage in the lower areas of San Pedro. She asked that government also consider more hurricane shelters for the island since, at present, the only official hurricane shelter is the San Pedro Roman Catholic School.

    Minister Godfrey Smith thanked the town officials for taking time to meet with him and congratulated all the members of SPEC and NEMO for taking on such a vitally important responsibility.