| Roatan Bruce
Interviews
Maracopa Arizona Sheriff's Office becomes sister police agency
Bruce Starr
Chief Dave Hendershott, Julio Benitez, Roger Marshall and Jim Miller. I was honored to have the new National Police Commissario Julio Benitez, Chief Deputy David Hendershott and Captain Jim Miller of The Maracopa County Sheriff's Office of the Phoenix Arizona area in the studio.
Congratulations go out to the new National Police Commissario of the Bay Islands Julio Benitez. He has been working diligently this last year as Sub-Commissario and Controller of Operations. Now that he has been named the new Commissario, one of his first decisions was to recognize the need to reach outside of conventional means to achieve his goals to make The Bay Islands the safest region, not only in Honduras, but in the Caribbean.
With the help of Roger Marshall, a retired police officer and top homicide investigator of the Maracopa County Sheriff's Office and now a part time resident of Roatan, Julio Benitez he has gotten off to a fast start. Roger invited his friends and former associates Chief Deputy David Hendershott and Captain Jim Miller of the Maracopa County to establish "A Sister Police Agency for Protection and Service" to help us educate, train and equip our own police. They have committed to coming down to The Bay Islands on a regular basis to accomplish this goal.
Chief Deputy David Hendershott: We have around 4000 employees and 3800 volunteer law enforcement personnel in Maracopa County that is 10,000 square miles, larger than eleven states in America. We are somewhere between the second and third largest law enforcement agency in the country. This week and during our visit here, we spent a lot of time working on making sure that the work we have done results in a better police department. Many top people need to be commended for supporting this program. They are all tremendously supportive of Julio Benitez and his idea to do this sister program with us that will greatly improve law enforcement in this community.
Roatan Bruce: What have you brought with you on this trip to the island?
Captain Jim Miller: We have initially brought down some investigative equipment that can be used by the National Police here on the island. It is just the beginning of more resources that are going to be identified and delivered to the island in the future to help make the police more effective in the community. My job with my the law enforcement agency will be to help facilitate Julio Benitez's plan for his project. He is an honorable man who has a lot of integrity. He is very knowledgeable about the basics in law enforcement. It is Julio's plan to make the police closer to the community and provide better service to the community. Our part is to help him with his plan making best use of our resources and training programs.
With a program like this already under way, we on the Bay Islands are taking a big step ahead towards reaching our goal of becoming a "Free Zone" where we will have our own top quality police officers to keep us protected, safe and secure.
An important note: These past few weeks have been especially difficult for the island because of the problems that RECO is having. It has become apparent to everyone that changes need to be made one way or another to ensure that RECO will be able to supply the necessary electricity to keep the island energized as we continue to grow. When more information becomes available, I will report on it here in this column.
Bruce Starr is the host of The Roatan Bruce Show now heard on 106.5 FM weekdays from 10 am to 1 pm across the Bay Islands and Northern Honduras.
Please visit his website at roatanbruce.com or
contact him at roatanbruce@yahoo.com
with your comments and suggestions.
GLORIUS FOOD REVIEWS
HTW had the monumental task of reviewing four new eateries around the island and following our rule, "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything," we bring you one wonderful restaurant. Not to say the other three were horrible, but just not quite three "starfish" or better.
SHANGHAI AT ROATAN YACHT CLUB, FRENCH HARBOR
To bring us fine authentic Asian cuisine, Chef Richard of La Bistro fame has pulled out all the stops. Delicious food prepared and served with authenticities such as woven bamboo serving baskets and long, thin hard-to-use chopsticks. We started out with the shrimp wan-ton and although a generous helping was given, we wanted more. Ever so slightly pickled vegetables were next, no doubt to clear the pallet, followed by a Chow mien so full of chicken and vegetables and all those things that make chow mien chow mien we had to put on the brakes a little. Why, so we could enjoy the sweet and sour pork main dish that came with an enormous serving of Asian vegetable and delectable noodles.
The menu is so vast we can go back at least twelve times and never duplicate our last meal. Prices, around $ 8.00 per person with beverages. And guess what, we were not hungry an hour later. Rating: 5 1/2-starfish *****.*
TUMULOS
Sometimes referred to as sleeping policemen or policia dormido, these are those irritating bumps in the already pox marked streets we run into now and again. Now if you are expecting them, all you have to do is slow down to zero and climb over wheel by wheel, but if they sneak up on you and you are sticking your tongue out at the next driver, watch out. Well, Las Fuertes is the latest area to add those protruding structures designed to remind us to give the pedestrians a fighting chance. These are very stiff ones so be aware and finally get to drive slowly enough to look at the quaintness of that sleepy metropolis that sneaks up on you between the airport and French Harbor.
READERS PLEASE WRITE
A gentleman doing his doctorate on Honduran foods temps us with a challenge. He asks that we research the origin of the word baleada, the name given to that cute little egg, cheese and bean contraption nestled between two tortillas. It is the breakfast of choice on Roatan, and substitutes as a lunch or dinner creation as well.
The literal translation of baleada is something about being shot. How then did that word get connected with a particular type of food? One explanation is the tortillas are the gun barrel, the egg the bullet, the cheese and beans the gunpowder. Another is because it is the favorite after-hours snack following a night of dancing it was dubbed a baileada, baile meaning dance, and then over the years evolved into baleada. Ask around, it seems everyone has a theory but most are centered around being shot and the ever-popular beans. Next week we explore the origin of the burrito.
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This is the last (hopefully) in a series of articles I have written over the past few weeks regarding the new airport Project for Copan Ruinas. As mentioned in last week's piece, the site that has been settled on is called Concepcion which is approximately half way between Santa Rosa de Copan and La Entrada. So as to avoid the roundabout route from Concepcion - La Entrada - Copan Ruinas, the new airport project calls for cutting a new road which must be built from scratch from Concepcion - Copan Ruinas, a distance of 41 kilometers through the mountains. Thus, driving time from Concepcion - Copan Ruinas should be on the order of perhaps 45 minutes.
According to the Minister of Tourism, the project will cost $21 million, which includes a terminal building, runway, access roads and studies. The project is to be financed by the Government of Taiwan, The Inter-American Development Bank and The Central American Integration Bank.
It is estimated that the construction of the project will take 18 months and the preparation of environmental impact statement and other studies will take two or three months. According to published reports in the press, Taiwanese firms will actually build the project.
In addition to the obvious benefits for Copan Ruinas, the new airport will benefit the Lenca Trail region as it is known. With its base in Gracias, Lempira, the Lenca trail comprises a vast area around Gracias with small colonial era villages, pottery making, national parks, hiking, hot springs, hiking, birding, horseback riding and museums. The region, one of the poorest in Honduras, is ripe for tourism development, but what has always been lacking is adequate tourism infrastructure and ease of access. With the addition of a nearby airport at Concepcion, the Lenca Route region will be opened up to tourism.
Previously access to the area required a three bus transfer from Copan Ruinas with a bus from Copan Ruinas - La Entrada, La Entrada. Santa Rosa de Copan and a bus from Santa Rosa de Copan - Gracias. Getting further into the Lenca region, for example to the village of La Campa or San Manuel Colohete or onto La Esperanza requires additional bus transfers and many more hours of travel, thus effectively limiting the number of tourists that have the time available in their tight travel schedule to visit the region. With the addition of an airport, travelers will be able to access the region from Roatan, Utila, La Ceiba, San Pedro Sula, Copan Ruinas and from Guatemala as well and with easier access, more travelers will make the trek to the Lenca Highlands.
In addition to the individual benefit for the Lenca region as well as Copan Ruinas, the new transport option brought by the airport will create a synergy between the two destinations - each feeding and supplying the other with tourists. Tourists in Copan Ruinas will be able to purchase multi-day packages to hike the nation's highest peak Mt Celaque, bathe in the hot springs, visit nearby Lenca villages and engage in ecotourism. Gracias on a lesser scale will also send tourists to Copan. Travelers in Roatan and Tela will also be part of the mix by having the option to fly into Concepcion and choose Copan, the Lenca Highlands or both as side trips to the islands.
Thus Honduras' product offerings will increase, average stays will become longer and tourism income will rise, as more travelers realize that Honduras is a lot more than just the Bay Islands and Copan. As tourism increases in Honduras, it is crucial that new regions and new products be added to Honduras' mix of offerings. A destination such as Honduras that stagnates and does not offer new products, destinations and important infrastructure, is a destination that will never fully realize its potential.
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