For nearly a decade, 30 residents of Belize’s small Fresh Pond community in Burrell Boom have navigated daily life without a single drop of running water to their homes. What should be a basic human necessity has become a constant struggle, with locals forced to rely on haphazard, inconsistent sources to meet even their most basic drinking, cooking, and hygiene needs. Rainwater catchment, occasional donated water supplies, and costly private water deliveries are the only options these families have had to survive year after year.
Residents recount that they have spent years lodging formal appeals with every level of local authority they can reach: the Burrell Boom village council, national government representatives, and Belize’s main water utility, Belize Water Services Limited (BWSL). Despite repeated promises that a permanent piped water system was in the works and would be delivered imminently, none of these appeals have resulted in tangible action, leaving the community’s crisis unresolved.
Nayda Escobar, a long-time Fresh Pond resident, described the community’s daily reality in an interview, noting that local reliance falls almost entirely on the generosity of one nearby property owner. “There is only one neighbour that’s been giving us water here for these couple years… He’s the one that’s been giving us the big hand here to everyone, but there are a few families here that have been coming to live and build here, but they go because of the same situation. We don’t have any water,” Escobar explained. She added that the entire community remains united in one simple demand: the installation of a formal, functioning water system that meets their basic needs.
Another resident highlighted that the hardship intensifies dramatically during Belize’s annual dry season, when rainfall dries up entirely and private water deliveries become even more costly and harder to schedule. What makes this ongoing crisis even more frustrating for residents, they say, is that the community is caught in a confusing jurisdictional dead zone that no government agency or utility will claim responsibility for.
Locals explain that BWSL considers the community too remote and sparsely populated to justify extending its urban-focused water network, while the Ministry of Rural Transformation does not classify Fresh Pond as sufficiently rural to qualify for its rural development water programs. This bureaucratic limbo has left the community stranded, even as new housing and commercial developments just a short distance away receive full, government-supported water access.
The community was originally given a firm timeline for the water system: officials promised the project would be fully completed by December 2023. But when that deadline passed, residents say they received no updates, no explanations, and no new timeline. Escobar noted that residents have continued to follow up repeatedly with officials, who only offer vague assurances that they will attempt to arrange temporary water access, with no results to date. After nine years of unmet promises, Escobar says the entire community has grown exhausted of the constant struggle and unfulfilled commitments.
Local news outlet News Five has reached out to BWSL to request an official comment on the community’s allegations and the ongoing status of the proposed water project. Full additional details from that inquiry, along with extended interviews with residents and responses from relevant government agencies, will be featured during tonight’s 6 PM broadcast of News 5 Live.