Government Condemns Road Sign Vandalism Used as Shooting Targets

The Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing (MIDH) is condemning the vandalism of road sign. The Ministry has brought to the public’s attention via a social media post that individuals across various parts of the country have been using government-installed road signs as what would appear to be quote “targets for shooting practice” as the signs are being noticed to be riddled with bullet holes. In an interview with Love News, Chief Engineer Evondale Moody expressed deep frustration and concern over the matter, calling the acts not only irresponsible but costly. 

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “The damages to the signs that we have been seeing on our highways it’s not recent. It’s something that has been occurring for quite some while now and so the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing has been on a mission to continuously replace these signs but we thought it was important to inform the public again on the damages that are being caused to our infrastructure as a result of stupidity I would say honestly. Because we’ve seen it been occurring on the John Smith Road, the George Price Highway and also the Coastal Planes Highway where a number of our traffic signs are being basically shot at like I think they’re target and the number of bullet holes that we’ve shown on them it’s significant honestly. And it’s not just one sign, it’s repeatedly occurring and these signs have a significant cost to it. The average sign right now would cost us around $950 per sign. And so right now we have our teams on the highway doing the replacement of these signs at this point in time. Yes we’re replacing some that have been damaged by vehicular traffic just running into them honestly. And so it has a significant cost to the MIDH and also the Government of Belize and people might not think that these are significant but when you add up all these signs you’re spending over sometimes half a million dollars to buy signs and we have to buy signs and procure signs for the entire country including the highways, feeder roads and secondary road. However we find that our primary asset is the highway which a lot of our citizens use and so we have to make sure that we have the proper signage and road furniture in place for the safety of the public.”

He explained that these signs play a critical role in guiding motorists, warning them of potential hazards, and maintaining the overall safety of roadways. Damaged or missing signs can result in confusion, increased risk of accidents, and in some cases, life-threatening situations, especially in rural or dimly lit areas where clear signage is essential. Beyond the safety concerns, vandalism carries a significant financial burden for the government. 

Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “Honestly we don’t have any legislation in place for us to fine anyone, there’s no legislation in place in the Public Roads Act or in any other act as far as I know as the Chief Engineer for us to press charges. However because of that we’re trying to reach out to the public to inform them because it really doesn’t make any sense when we’re putting these stuff in place for the benefit of the general public and for the safety of motorists traveling our highways. I really cannot ascertain why someone would shoot the signs, honestly. They’re just physical structures there to guide you and to let you know a left hand curve is coming up or a right hand curve is coming up and these are reflective signs so they reflect at night for motorists driving at night so that you could know what curve is coming up. What we’ve also noticed is that some of the signs are being cut an the reason why they’re being cut is because the signs are installed on a two inch galvanized pole and if you know to do a weather head for your home you need a galvanized pole and they’re being cut and utilized for that. So they’re cutting the entire sign in some instances just to get the pole.”

The Ministry is appealing to all citizens to treat public infrastructure with respect and to understand that these amenities are in place for everyone’s benefit.