State of the city at the time of the removal of the British and the
Beginnings of self rule (1960-88)
Between 1960 and 1988, Belize City doubled in the land area
available for residence. In response to the basic need for space, the
rapidly expanding population civilized the areas with minimal
infrastructure assistance from the government at the time of initial
occupation. In the following years, the government slowly provided basic
services to some new parts of the city, and not to others.
A weak economy, lack of and poor condition of housing and poor
health underly the urban blight that affected the daily life of most of the
city's residents. In 1988, 50-70% of the houses in poorer sections of the
city had not hooked up to a centralized sewer system and used the canals
for basic sanitary needs. As a result, lack of adequate disposal for human
household waste is major cause of the incidence of disease in Belize city.
(Joseph Palacio, SPEAR; Fourth annual studies, 1991)
Migrations:
It was also in this time of political transition that major sets of
out migrations began to occur. The first set of emigrants from Belize City
were recruited by United States agricultural interests who needed to fill
a labor shortage caused by World War II. Many of those recruited did not
return to Belize after the war and served as a network of support and
information for later migrants.
From 1960-1980, a net migration (actual emigrants and their
subsequent children born in the United States) of 32,459 Belizeans
emigrated to the US followed by 20,584 the next decade.
Belize City, the Creole center of the country grew by only 1%
between 1970 and 1980. The country's urban population grew by only 13%
while the rural population grew by 22% at a time when the urban
populations of Latin America were soaring. Two factors can explain this
trend. Some rural to urban migration was occurring in Belize, like other
Latin American countries, at a time when many of the old, Creole
residents of Belize city were emigrating to the United States. The rural
population then grew rapidly as a result of an influx of refugees fleeing
the civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala. (Vernon, SPEAR; Second
annual studies, 1990)
These migration patterns and proposed reasons for the migrations
are discussed more fully in a later section of the paper. What can be
stated here is that in the period of self-rule, preceding full independence
from the United Kingdom, a mass exodus of Belizeans, mostly Creoles from
Belize City occurred and continues to occur in the present. This out
migration by Belizean citizens continues to be seen as a result of a lack of
opportunities for Belizeans in Belize and fuels the call for political,
economic and social change in Belize; one of the manifestations of which
was has been the emigration patterns and another of which was the
limited independence of 1960-1988, and then the total political
independence Belize now enjoys.
It is the social, political and economic situation which will be
discussed in the next section on Belize City, within the context of the
"new" country of Belize.