Castro the $4.5m man; Willoughby got chump change

This week Cabinet approved $473,000 for the retrofitting of hurricane shelters, which NEMO Coordinator Retired Lt. Col. George Lovell says is of much importance, but when compared to the $4.5 million dollars approved for Edmond Castro’s unfinished road in Crooked Tree, it shows that the Barrow Administration does not find it a priority to keep Belizeans safe during a hurricane disaster.

Castro admitted that he did not get environmental clearance before he began to tear through the area and clear up about 2,000 feet of marshlands and sparse forest. Castro was unapologetic in media interviews and claimed that his bulldozing must go on because he spent $4.5m already.

Castro didn’t explain exactly how he spent the enormous $4.5m budget, but he confessed that the road was incomplete because it still needed drainage and paving. This meant Castro needed more money, perhaps more millions.

Meanwhile Castro has blown away $4.5m towards an unfinished road, the Barrow Administration is now disgracefully proposing to spend a mere $473,000 on hurricane shelters which are used as safe havens by Belizeans who have no secure place during threats of natural disasters.

Only a part of those funds will go towards hurricane shelters in Belize City; even though for several months UDP Councilor and now hired District NEMO Coordinator Philip Willoughby had been reporting that new and improved shelters were needed in Belize City. Can Willoughby say whether any new shelters will be built in time for the 2008 hurricane season, or whether those shelters which he criticized as being “unworthy” will continue to be used?

Can Willoughby also say whether the $4.5m allocated for Castro’s unfinished road could have been better invested by his Government to construct new and better hurricane shelters?

It is completely outrageous to propose such meager funds for hurricane preparedness while allowing millions to have been fleeced on the construction of a road that was never properly authorized.

The irony of all this is that there is a link between these two issues, Castro’s unfinished road and the hurricane shelters. Environmentalists have explained that the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary acts as a water bed during an increase in water levels in the Belize District. This means the Wildlife Sanctuary helps to mitigate flooding in Belize City and the river valley communities. Now environmentalists are afraid that Castro’s alterations to the wetlands could have changed the ground levels in the area and reduced its potential to alleviate flooding in other areas. Belize City could be seriously impacted.

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