SAN ANTONIO VILLAGE TO RECEIVE NEW RUDIMENTARY WATER SYSTEM

June 11, 2009

Residents of San Antonio Village will soon have access to a new Rudimentary Water System. The million dollars project was launched on Wednesday in the village during official ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega and Area Representative Rene Montero. According to Minister Montero, this project is a historic and much needed one.

Rene Montero; Area Representative

“For over 10 long years the residents of San Antonio longed for this day. This village has experienced many hardships as a result of water shortages. You hear what the Chairman of the San Antonio Water Board said; you will no longer use that little cup when you bathe. You have had to rely on well tricks, rain fall and near by creeks for your water supply. Although we made every effort to mitigate this suffering through a series of interventions I realized that this would not go away until San Antonio had a proper and functioning water system. This is precisely what this new $1 million project aims to achieve here in San Antonio. I am very pleased that this project has an irrigation component to assist farmers in this area. While it is paramount for the residents of the village to get their water it is also very important for the farmers to receive water for their crops so that they can increase their production and productivity and keep the Belizean economy growing.”

The Government of Belize is in full support of the project which will entail the installation of a 31 thousand feet transmission line from the proposed intake source at Oak Burn Creek, repairs of existing tank, an irrigation system along with other amenities to effectively provide water to the villagers. Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega reiterated government’s commitment to provide improved standards of living to all Belizeans.  

Gaspar Vega; Deputy Prime Minister

“The Government of Belize is very serious about addressing the basic needs of all Belizeans; not only the ones in San Antonio but for all Belizeans throughout our lovely nation. We pledge to work hard to provide Belizeans with a better standard of living and this commitment remains unshakable. This project also has the involvement of the UNDP and so I wish to express my greatest gratitude to them for sharing our government’s vision to assist the farmers of San Antonio and by extension all the residents of this beautiful village. As part of this ceremony we will also be planting some seedlings to commemorate the official launching of this project. This is very significant because these plants will serve as a reminder of the end of the end of a period of hardship and the beginning of a new era of prosperity for all the residents of this lovely village.”

Over three thousand residents will benefit from this project which will be implemented by the Social Investment Fund with assistance from UNDP. Funding for the project is being provided jointly by the Government of Belize and the Caribbean Development Bank.

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