PRESS RELEASE - contact person: Bert Tucker at belriv@btl.net

BELIZE RISES TO THE CHALLENGES OF HURRICANE KEITH!

Grassroots Communities Rehabilitation Program
Belize, Central America

Introduction:

The urban poor especially in Southside Belize City, and the rural communities in the Belize River Valley, and along Old Northern Road, have been especially hard hit by Hurricane Keith and the resultant flooding and the short and medium term effects will be quite substantial.

In the case of the Belize River Valley, floodwaters are likely to remain for several weeks doing incalculable damage to housing, habitats, livestock, wildlife, crops and infrastructure. As the communities are stranded, sources of income are cut off thus increasing the poverty in the area and subsistence farming food production will not be possible until next season almost one year away.

In Belize City substandard housing, swampy locations and other conditions of poverty are wreaking havoc on the low-income communities .These communities were virtual disaster areas before the onset of the hurricane, and only fundamental steps will make a difference.

Experiences from recent disasters including Mitch in 1998 show that assessments and resultant intervention programs have been ineffective in addressing the immediate and short-term needs of Belizean low-income communities. Unfamiliarity with the communities and lack of knowledge on ongoing initiatives and on existing capacities constrains realistic program design.

Grassroots Communities Rehabilitation Program 0ctober 2000 -December 2001:

A special program has been developed by BELRIV to alleviate effects of Hurricane Keith, to reconnect with and redesign pipeline development initiatives, and to begin the systematic rehabilitation of grassroots communities. This program will build the capacity of strategic groups and enhance capacity of community leadership to advocate for and undertake self reliant and productive undertakings to grow themselves out of the clutches of disaster.

BELRIV will be the lead organization(s) in designing and implementation and cooperation and maximum collaboration will be sought with other relevant groups. Communities targeted will be Belize Rural (Belize River Valley and Northern Road communities) and Low income communities Belize City (Southside and selected low income Northside communities).