The Mayor of San Pedro Town Daniel Guerrero has returned to the country after attending the 2nd Central American and Dominican Republic Mayors’ Forum. Held in the City of Santiago in the Dominican Republic from May 7th to the 9th, the event saw over 100 mayors from the region at one forum geared to discuss issues of mutual importance. Mayor Guerrero attended the event in representation of the Belize Mayor’s Association.
Mayors from all Central American countries, Haiti and all the municipalities in the Dominican Republic participated in the event. The main objective of the forum was to create a network for mayors from all the municipalities in the region in an effort share and integrate ideas that can help the region grow.
According to Guerrero, the event kicked off with a social welcome reception for the Mayors and their spouses, hosted by the municipality of Santiago. “We participated in various forums throughout the course of three days where we discussed several topics concerning issues happening in each country. These topics included citizenship decentralization and participation, technology and ways it can positively impact our communities, public safety as it relates to crime prevention method, municipal health and safety, community solid waste management and tourism in our community and promotions,” explained the Mayor.
At the event, Belize was invited to present on tourism, which Mayor Guerrero used to explain how tourism is a source for change. “It was a well rounded presentation in which we shared how tourism has impacted our economy, the importance for the workforce and what we are doing to promote various destinations. Most of them were familiar or have heard about ‘La Isla Bonita” and so we took it as an example on how tourism has transformed the island from a small fishing community to Belize’s prime tourism destination,” explained the Mayor.
Mayor Guerrero said his trip to the Dominican Republic was a fruitful one as it gave him the opportunity to look at areas of concern and how other municipalities from different countries function, which San Pedro Town can relate to.
