San
Pedro Daily  |
Friday, September 11,
2009 Belize's Only Daily |
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ISLAND
SUPERMARKET "Best Prices - Best Quality - Best Service" Phone: 501-226-2972 or 501-226-2973 FREE DELIVERY IN TOWN |
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 Parking
Laws revealed
An
incident involving the Central Park Taxi Association and a private
citizen has brought many interesting parking issues to light. Questions
have been raised and answers were found with Mayor of San Pedro Town
Elsa Paz.
With five various Taxi Associations spread across the island, parking was always an issue. With taxis parking on the many streets, left and right, it was important to designate certain areas as parking zones. On June 18th, 2005 Parking Zones were gazetted in the Belize Gazette. In 2005, a decision was reached between the Ambergris Caye Traffic Control Committee (ACTCC), the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) and the Taxi Federation which at the time was responsible for four taxi associations.  The signs indicate exclusive parking for the various taxi associations. The new laws were gazetted three times and
without any objections
they were passed on as laws. These amendments verbatim are as follows:
15 minutes Parking Zone Pescador Drive – From its junction with Caribeña Street to its junction with Tarpon Street. Vehicular Traffic on North Part of Island Except for golf carts, small ATV’s and bicycles, no other vehicle should be driven North of “La Boca del Rio” cut. Taxi Stands Barrier Reef Drive – From a three foot point North of the entrance of Sands Hotel to its junction with Ambergris Street from Monday to Thursday with adequate consideration to the rules and regulations on parking for that time of the month. Ambergris Street – From a three foot point West of Alliance Bank’s entrance to its junction with Pescador Drive from Friday to Sunday. Swan Street – From the Tropic Air Cargo gate to the Airstrip Taxi Association’s Booth. Lion Street – From its junction with Swan Street to the Lion’s Clinic. Black Coral Street – Three vehicles of the association will be allowed to park on this street from its junction with barrier Reef Drive to its junction with Pescador Drive from Monday to Sunday. Barrier Reef Drive – Two vehicles from Di’ Bush Gift Shop to a 10 foot point south of its junction with Black Coral Street from Monday to Sunday with adequate consideration to the rules and regulations on parking for that time of the month. Sea Grape Drive – All vehicles of the Island Taxi Association will be allowed to park next to Los Caminantes Store by Banana Beach. Of course, Los Caminantes Store is no longer in front of Banana Beach and neither is the Lion’s Clinic on Swan Street so careful consideration needs to be made on the designated zones. According to Mayor Paz, these areas are designated for the various taxi associations. The above mentioned taxi parking zones are only to be used by the relevant associations and no other private vehicle. That means no other golf cart or private citizen can use those zones to park. If these are used by a private vehicle the only bodies authorized to remove the vehicle in question would be either the Traffic Wardens or the San Pedro Police Department. However, according to Mayor Paz, these entities would first issue a ticket and if the car is not moved a Court’s Summons will follow. A judgment by the San Pedro Magistrates Court will then decide the fate of the vehicle. San Pedro Sun Fairweather and
Lindo get highest Belizean Honours
Next Thursday, September 17th, the
Government of Belize, through the
Office of the Prime Minister, will be conferring awards on eighteen
deserving citizens, during this year’s Tribute to Belizean Patriots
ceremony.
The awards fall into four categories: Order of Belize, Order of Distinction, Meritorious Service Award for men, and a corresponding one for women. Two distinguished Belizeans will be receiving the Order of Belize.They are Mr. Dean R. Lindo, SC, in recognition of his contributions to the development of party politics in Belize; and Mr. Compton Fairweather, for his service to the Belizean community in New York. Mr. Fairweather already has the distinction of being a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) Mr. Lindo, in a telephone interview with The Reporter, said he thought both awards were well-deserved, given the long trajectory in political and community activism of both recipients. For his part, he said, he has been involved in politics for the last fifty years, being also a founding member of the United Democratic Party (UDP). Four Orders of Distinction will be conferred, as well as four Merit-orious Service Awards for women and eight meritorious Service Awards for Males. Overall, two awards will be conferred post-humously, an Order of Distinction to Captain Monrad Siegfried Metzgen, in recognition of his dedication to community and public service, and a Meritorious Service Award to Mr. Cesar Ismael Gomez, for his contributions to business and industry. One recipient of a Meritorious Service Award, Mr. Godfrey Blades, Sr., still hale and hearty at 80, said he “feels great about (the recognition)!” He stated that he has been a nationalist all his life, relating an interesting anecdote of a few decades ago, when he and some com-panions pulled down a Guate-malan flag from Belize’s Northern border, in order to replace it with a Belizean one. This upcoming conferral of awards falls under the National Honours and Awards Act, which was passed in 1991, according to a release from the Office of the Prime Minister. It provides that each year on Independence Day, or on another suitable date, honours and physical recognition “may be conferred on persons, living or dead, who may have rendered outstand-ing and merit-orious service to Belize, or who have distin-guished themselves in other endeavours worthy of national recognition.” The ceremony will be held at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts at 7:00 in the evening. Reporter Reporter Editorial
Harry Lawrence In
the face of overwhelming historical and documented evidence, many
Belizeans who once described the Battle of St. George’s Caye as
“a
myth” have come to accept that this battle lies at the core of the
Belizean ethos for independent thinking, and for valour in the face of
adversity.
When the Baymen leaders were summoned to a public meeting on June 1st, 1797, each man knew in his heart that the stakes were high. They all remembered how a Spanish force had swooped down on St. George’s Caye without warning nineteen years earlier, and how the Spaniards had seized, and shackled and marched them overland to Merida. They had no illusions of what the Spaniards would do to them this time. They had a choice: to fight, to flee or to yield. Yielding was not an option. It would mean many years of servitude and perhaps death. Flight was not an attractive prospect either. They would lose everything they ever worked for and they knew the Spaniards would hunt them down like game. Resistance seemed to be the best option. The odds were not great. In fact, they were slim. But there was a glimmer of hope that they could prevail. The meeting decided by a majority of 14 votes to stand and fight. The account of the battle is best told in the terse words of Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Thomas Barrow, Superintendent of the Settlement, who wrote in a dispatch to Lord Balcarres in Jamaica to say: “On the morning of Monday, September 10th, fourteen of the largest vessels of the Spanish feet weighed anchor and at nine o’clock brought to about a mile and a half distant from our fleet. Captain Moss was then of the opinion that they meant to delay the attack ‘til the following day, but nine of them got under weigh about noon. “These carried each two 24-pounders in the bow and two 18-pounders in the stern. One schooner carried 22 and all the rest from 8 to 14 guns in their waist. And every one of them, besides being crowded with men, towed a large launch full of soldiers. The other five vessels, with several launches, all full of men, remained at this last anchorage at the distance of a mile and a half. “Our fleet was drawn up with His Majesty’s ship Merlin in the center, and directly abreast of the channel. The sloops with heavy guns and the gunboats in some advance to the Northward, were on her eastern and western flanks. “The enemy came down in a very handsome manner and with a good countenance in a line abreast, using both sails and oars. About half after two o’clock Captain Moss made the signal to engage, which was observed with great cool and a determined firmness, that to use his own expression to me on that occasion, would have done credit to veterans. “The action lasted about two hours and a half, when the Spaniards began to fall into confusion, and soon thereafter cut their cables and sailed and rowed off, assisted by a great number of launches which took them in tow.” Reporter LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Raising Awareness of Belize's Threatened Reef
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students Charles Kuralt
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  www.grandcaribe.com debbiewade@gmail.com
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© SAN PEDRO DAILY, PO Box 45, San Pedro Town, Belize. Inquiries to editor@sanpedrodaily.com |
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