Friday, May 2, 2008

Mayor Richmond of Guanaja Meets Prince Houdini

It started out as a regular day in Guanaja ... little did we know that we would have the honor of meeting the Mayor of this island paradise.

Harlon Richmond Hurlston, Alcalde Municipal, Mayor of Guanaja Islas de la Bahia, gave us a few minutes of his time for a quick interview. It was an honor that I hadn't expected. As we entered his office, above the door was a sign stating "No Corruption" ... how great is that? Something that many US politicians could take a lesson from!



Mayor Richmond's message was simple. He is concerned with his island's economy, tourism and the environment. The mayor wants tourism to flourish and to have these same tourists to return because of favorable experiences. The government has made money available just for this purpose.

Right now they are currently upgrading the sewer system to accommodate the growing population on Bonacca Town and construction has begun on a new terminal at the airport. After all, this is the first place that a tourist sees.

Mayor Richmond graciously posed for a picture with me and Houdini. It is probably the first time he has posed with a crazy American woman and a small white dog!

Thank you for your time Mayor Richmond. I look forward to visiting Guanaja, your island paradise again.

3 comments:

Guanaja Sharon said...

Well, you met the Mayor - what next, the Governor of the Bay Islands? You sure get around.
We may have another airline terminal being built but we have lost two airlines servicing the island since you left! Islena and Atlantic no longer come out here so all we have is Sosa and getting on a plane now to go somewhere takes a few days of advance planning! Don't know what they will do with a 3rd terminal! Yikes, the only one we ever use is the lovely little thatched hut "Thirst and Last Stop". The 2nd terminal is used for storage as no one ever turned on the electricity! But, hey, we on the island move slow and it's only been about 4 years! The newest terminal is looking nice but we don't know who will run it and what will happen as far as air service. We can only hope we get at least one airline back to take the stress on the bookings!

angelo said...

How many passengers per week would fly to Roatan if reliable service was offered? This air service would go to Roatan every Thur, Sat and Sun morning and return to Guanaja Thur, Sat and Sun late afternoon.
Inter island service would also be offered connecting Guanaja to Utila, La Ceiba and even as far as Belize City.

You seem to be knowledgable about the island. What are your thoughts about this type of service being offered?

Thank you

angelo said...

I would love to hear all other comments from other listeners as well as guanaja sharon. Pls write back to my email Thanks to all