Shipyard
Coordinates: 17 ° 53 ′ N , 88 ° 37 ′ W
Shipyard is a municipality in the Orange Walk District in northwestern Belize ( Central America ). The place is mostly inhabited by Plautdietschen Mennonites and has 2385 inhabitants ( Zensus , 2000). According to official estimates, the population had grown to 2751 inhabitants by 2005.
History and economy
Shipyard was founded in April 1958 by Mennonites of the Old Colony from Chihuahua and Durango , Mexico . The jungle found in Belize was cleared with an ax. Modernization in the form of mechanization of their work activities also reached the traditional Mennonite communities. Today, Shipyard settlers use agricultural machinery instead of a sickle to harvest their grain. The first colonists started growing rice, corn and sorghum. Vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, melons, cucumbers and peppers were grown later. By the late 1980s they were leaders in fried chicken production and livestock farming was also expanding. The acceptance of machines in the life of the Mennonite community led to the establishment of sawmills, which supplied the local craftsmen with wood for house construction and furniture production.