February 12, 2011 (San Pedro Town, Belize-- Again: Day 1/Part Two)

About noon on Saturday, February 12, I headed off on my rented bike in search of Caribbean Coves subdivision-- which I had heard about from the young Belizian kid I met on the bus a few days earlier. A long bike ride appeared to be a little risky for today as it looked like it might rain any time-- and I certainly was not dressed for rain. Nevertheless, I headed north on the one and only gravel "road" (trail) along the Ambergris Peninsula in search of the elusive subdivision. After pedaling past the Paradise Theater (the only movie theater I had come across so far in Belize!) just north of the San Pedro River bridge, I pulled over to ask a local if he had any idea where some property owned by the San Pedro Town Council might be. He told me to turn left (into what appeared to be a slum) and ask for a person named "Pastor Palacio" who probably knew all about it. I had ridden my bike into an area called San Mateo--very much reminiscent of the Sao Paulo slums immortalized in the movie City of God as you can see in the photos below:

A Snapshot of San Mateo: Next Door Neighbor to San Pedro 

I Almost Killed Myself Trying to Walk Across This "Sidewalk"

The "Streets" of San Mateo After a Rain 

San Mateo: This Is What Happens with No Infrastructure

Suddenly finding myself in a slum only a mile from a thriving Caribbean resort hot spot made me realize that, on occasion, the outside perception of a region's growth can be distorted. Sometimes, due to economic shifts and even normal market fluctuation, investment in seemingly popular areas tapers off. What happens when the "supply" of workers far exceeds the "demand"? Such is apparently the case on Ambergris Caye. With its currency tied 2 to 1 to the American dollar, Belize feels every bit of the economic crisis in the United States. With much of the island's investment money coming from the US, it doesn't take an analyst to figure out what the market conditions have done to the rates of development and building on Ambergris. Ambergris is still growing, just not fast enough to keep up with the migration of hopeful souls who travel from the interior of Belize, Guatemala and even Mexico in search of a better life. They arrive, often having spent their last penny, only to find that the “Promised Land” is not exactly what they expected. Jobs are hard to come by, housing costs are (relatively) astronomical and there is insufficient infrastructure in place to support all these families.
In perhaps a half-hearted attempt to accommodate the working and non-working poor on Ambergris, an area on the island known as San Mateo-- just a short distance north of the tourist “Mecca” of San Pedro-- was "given" to these families by the government on which to build their homes. In all fairness, they were told in no uncertain terms that no services would be provided to this "neighborhood". No water, no sewer, no garbage collection...nothing. They simply were being provided with a place to build shelter (a shack literally) and live. Nothing more.

And so it is. Years later San Mateo is exactly as you would expect-- a filthy, unsanitary blot on an island that demands and collects top dollars from tourists from all over the globe. Sandwiched between the desirable town of San Pedro and upscale villas and condominium complexes to the north, one can only wonder how long the residents of San Mateo will be "allowed" to inhabit the area. Already it seems, the powers that be are conspiring against the residents of San Mateo. Efforts to bring in clean fill to combat the almost constant flooding in the area have been blocked. Rumor has it that certain developers have lined the pockets of local politicians and service providers, thwarting the attempts of caring, local citizens to clean up San Mateo and create safe and sanitary living conditions for these families. The recent death of a young child, presumably due to the festering, disease infested water around her home sounded an alarm and elicited a public out-cry for governmental help and funds to ameliorate the deplorable conditions in this neighborhood. Months later, nothing has been done and everyone seems to have slipped back into complacency. Still, there is no source of clean water, no sewer system, no garbage removal service; nothing to sustain a "tolerable life". The wheels of change move slowly on Ambergris Caye.

One of the residents of San Mateo tried to help me find this "Pastor Palacio". After helping me negotiate a number of rickedy wooden bridges and walkways across the swamps surrounding the shacks in San Mateo, and even carring my bicycle for me over some of the difficult sections, my guide actually found someone knowledgeable for me who told me that the project owned by the Town Council was quite a bit further north. He mentioned that it was adjacent to a place called Captain Morgan's, which I remember having passed on a previous bicycle ride. Once again I climbed back on my bike and headed north. After pedaling for several miles I reached Captain Morgan's Resort, so I went inside the bar and asked one of the employees if he had any idea where a new planned subdivision owned by the San Pedro Town Council might be located. The Captain Morgan employee had no idea, but outside near the road I spoke with a different person who told me that I had to find the new road across the lagoon which was several miles further north. After pedaling for several more miles, I finally saw a sign for a subdivision called "Grand Belizean Estates". There was a very rough (new) gravel road that appeared to be heading straight west across the lagoon that must have had over a million truck loads of gravel brought in to build it! I had no idea how long this new road was but I started across it... (to be continued...)