2 days ago
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A potentially significant breakthrough has been made in Jalacte Village, Toledo District, where a drilling team has struck water after several days of intensive work. Jalacte is among the few remaining communities in Belize without access to a potable rural water system. Residents currently depend on a small number of hand pumps, which often run dry during the dry season, leaving families with an unreliable supply. Charles Galvez, Director of Rural Development, confirmed that the drilling team reached an underground water source. He stressed, however, that finding water is only the first step. Pump testing must now be conducted to determine the well’s production capacity and long-term sustainability, while water-quality tests will establish whether the supply is safe for human consumption.
Charles Galvez, Director of Rural Development: “Yes, the Ministry of Rural Transformation has long before my time, meaning I started the ministry in October of 2021 and I know before I started there had been much more effort or what should I say, multiple other efforts, sorry, in drilling, trying to find a source of water for the community of Jalacte which is pretty much a large community considered one of the largest rural communities in Toledo. Now, a year or two ago we had procured a geo-resistivity equipment which helps us to find and identify locations or sites that our success would be higher, you know, success rate which helps us to be more time efficient and cost effective. So we carried out some tests with our team from MRT and we identified this area which we thought would have been the most suitable area to drill based on our findings. All right, what happened over the past month we’ve been on the ground, one of four rig teams has been on the ground in Jalacte drilling and at that same location. Now, people who will know Toledo and the soil formation and the fact that in that era there’s a lot of underground caves, caverns, would know that it’s challenging when you’re working in those type of terrain and soil formation. So what we had to do, we had to basically plan properly. Therefore, the drilling technique and methods that we used is not basic. It was a tedious process.”
The results of those assessments will determine whether the well can serve as a viable source for the community. If it meets the necessary production and water-quality standards, officials will then move towards establishing a basic rural water system in the village. Galvez explained that even a rudimentary system could provide a more reliable supply to hundreds of Jalacte residents and reduce the community’s dependence on hand pumps, particularly during prolonged dry conditions.
Charles Galvez, Director of Rural Development: “We’re looking at almost 800 residents between Jalacte and the other little smaller areas around Jalacte possibly inclusive of the customs and immigration and BAHA staff who are at that checkpoint as well, and the police security. Because the community and these people there are working, representing our government and working in our interests during dry season. We have to truck in water multiple times during dry season because the hand pump wells in the commuter of Jalacte run dry during the dry season. So we have to truck which is very costly. Now once this test, once this well passes the tests, then what we will do will be adding this commuter to our next submission where we will be identifying funding agencies and funds whether it be through the CARICOM Development Fund, whether it be through the CDB, whether it be through the adaptation fund, we will be identifying funds for the construction of a water system as we already carried out recently we carried out a full technical assessment of the area and what is required and what it’s going to cost to put in a full rudimentary water system for the community.”
Officials have not yet announced a timeline or cost for developing the proposed system, as those decisions will depend on the testing results and the infrastructure required.
English (US) ·