Because Shirlee and I are San Pedro Red Cross volunteers, we are lucky to have great things coming our way like travel, education and this time a new form of Belize ID.
We were at the San Pedro Branch Chairman Eiden Salizar’s office (Reef Radio and TV) and he got to asking us if we had our Voter ID cards yet. Eiden knew we were both Canadian and as Commonwealth, we are both eligible to vote.
Since neither of us had our cards Eiden called Severo Guerrero from San Pedro Town Council to come meet us. He was there within 5 minutes and promptly started making arrangements as to what day he could pick us both up to take us to the office and get the process started.
As we were on our way there we all shared a laugh when I told them the story about how I was never much into politics and now the one thing that is getting me involved in politics is the Belize Red Cross who has Neutrality listed as number 4 on their 7 Fundamental Principles list.
When we got to the office on Middle street, it was very fast. They confirmed that both of us had been in Belize the required amount of time then we filled out paperwork, they took our pictures and wanted passport copies. Since Shirlee forgot hers she has to go back, they took the photocopy I brought and opted to do one of their own as well. My ID card should be ready within a month and they said they will call me when it’s done.
More about what it takes to get a voter ID:
- You are from a commonwealth country and have lived in Belize for a year without leaving and been at least 2 months in the area where you are registering in our case, San Pedro. Bring a photocopy and hard copy of your passport.
- Anyone who is Nationalized or is a Belizean needs to bring their passport or birth certificate and Social Security card.
- The office is located in the same building as the Post Office on Middle Street – 226-2220.
After we were done Severo offered to drive us home, as much as I would have loved a ride I had a town errand to do. Stop at BEL and finish closing out a friend’s account who is temporarily off the island. Cindy at the desk confirmed that the account was finished and that she has a credit of $12 BZD. I had also previously closed her Coral Cable Vision and Belize Water Limited accounts.
I was able to do most of this by email but I did have a bit if in-person leg work as well. The email contained a PDF my friend sent me containing her account number for each place and the address each was associated with.
After they canceled her account, a trip to BWS was in order to settle the amount owing. BEL requested a passport copy where her signature clearly showed so that they could verify her identity. After providing that and a bit of correspondence with Marvin in Belize City as he closed her account, I was prompted to check-in at the San Pedro office for finalization. I did not bother to ask Cindy for her remaining $12 and just left it as a small credit for when my friend returns 🙂
Itemized bill from Super Buy South:
$22.22 – Kirkland Artichokes
$12.22 – Queen Olives
$9.91 – Plain Rice milk – Same store new pricing as of last time I bought it $11:15 I hope it goes back to the original price like Coffee did at Mini Marina’s.
$5.60 – Large baking soda
$7.56 – Lime peanuts
$1.60 – Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Peanut butter bars (each)
$2.27 – Mentos
$1.73 – M&M’s
$8.09 – 12.5% tax
Hang in there Elaine, with a pocket full of patience (or in some cases a bucket) you can come out on top. That goes both ways for perks, you get a lot of good things like farm fresh and cheaper prices that we do not.
I’m happy things moved along smoothly for you. Sadly for some of us in Belize from other countries, it has not been so easy. I have met many challenges regarding accounts of all sorts over the last year. And, found resistance with immigration on residency/visa. Which in turn means lack of IDs. Maybe life on the island has some perks for expats that the mainland does not offer.