TWIN TOWNS ARE CAMPAIGNING FOR OFFICE PLUM JOBS IN BELIZE.

Belize Flag image photo.


UDP AND PUP ARE CAMPAIGNING IN THE SUBURB OF HILLVIEW FOR THE MARCH TOWN COUNCIL ELECTIONS.

I believe we have a local nurse in Hillview running for town council from the opposition PUP and the incumbent UDP Mayor and councilors stopped by to campaign today. One UDP councilor works for BTL the telemedia company and announced that BTL was going to put in a new radio wave system, with longer radio wave lengths and lower frequencies, for both telephone and internet usage, so that suburbs like Hillview and Santa Cruz behind the ridges in the canyons and little pocket valleys of the Twin Towns, would be able to get reception for both wall telephones and internet antennas. The system is supposed to be active by the middle of February, 2009. About two weeks from now. We will not hold our breath! -- As an update the wife went into BTL today, to sign up. BTL customer service denied they were putting in any such internet service and HILLVIEW definitely WILL NOT get any internet from BTL. The UDP Councillor gave out BAD INFORMATION even though he works for BTL apparently.

The incumbent UDP Mayor running for re-election said they were getting some public works equipment, such as a grader, roller and trucks for maintaining the streets of the Twin Towns. They didn’t say WHEN, but said the finances were coming mostly from Central Government, who have made FOREIGN LOANS for such things. In the meantime, on the way into town this afternoon, a PUBLIC WORKS GRADER was actually 80% along with grading of Hillview Avenue leading into our community. It has been about a year to the week, since last done. Surprise, surprise! Maybe because the TOWN mayor and councillors were campaigning here yesterday?

The TWIN TOWN BOARD elections are in March, so the campaigning is getting hot and heavy. We were visited by both UDP and PUP campaigners. Generally speaking we are in favor of the current Town Board, as they have been fairly responsive to requests for action, within the budget limits they have. There is one exception, in that if a Hillview resident runs for the TOWN BOARD we shall also vote for that person, as we believe our valley suburb on the slope of Green Parrot Valley needs a VOICE on the TOWN BOARD.

About 8 years ago, when the Hillview housing project was then a dozen years old, and barren of trees and shrubbery, with mud everywhere and vandalized government shell shocked houses, under the control of the Development Finance Corporation; we envisioned a future for Hillview, on the slope of Green Parrot Valley, on the edge of Santa Elena Town as a tourist village, like we have on Caye Caulker. We know from pioneering tourism on Caye Caulker back in the early 1960’s, that it takes a long time to get things going. Hillview today though, is quite nice, with lots of fruit trees, decorative shrubs, polite people and painted houses with additions and extensions being added as people can afford them. We already have a few small businesses located inside the community and are looking forward to accelerating the changeover into a tourist community. The timeline we envisioned back 8 years ago, was about 15 years for community development and we are 8 years along. We have our Falconview Adventure Hostel finished pretty much, this Spring, with beds for 16 persons and are currently debating what to do with another house in the community we bought to re-model. In order for Hillview to become a Western TOURIST VILLAGE MECCA, we need as the next step, to get 5 or 6 culverts installed at corners of streets that wash out during the rainy season, and also to get the streets here inside the community and entrance road up from the Western Highway, asphalt paved. We told the Mayor and Councilors campaigning of our village plans and asked for them during this time, when the Town Board and the National Government are of one political voice, to do these things as the community needs to progress. CULVERTS and STREET PAVING are the requests. The private sector will do the rest. This is called INFRA-STRUCTURE productive sector investment on the part of the two government entities. Which should be a priority on spending for creating future government revenues. We shall see what we shall see!