Aaron Locke of San Pedro WASA

    Aaron was born on April 14^th, 1967 in Belize City to Alvin and Joan Locke. Joan was a mid-wife and Alvin was a WASA employee for nineteen years. His family also consists of two sisters and one brother, whom he is very close to. At the young age of three, Aaron's father was transferred to Belmopan and Aaron began school there until the age of nine when they moved back to his birthplace, Belize City. There, he was enrolled and graduated from St. John's Primary School and Junior Secondary #2 High School (now Gwen Lizarraga High). Knowing the importance of education in today's growing world, Aaron continued his studies at Belize Technical College Sixth Form. He took two years of basic electrical trade and two more years of electrical and mechanical engineering, graduating with an Associate's Degree in 1986.

    Aaron now had the confidence to face the world and put his abilities to the test. Call it destiny, but strangely enough his first working opportunity was at WASA where his father had been employed. The job, which was only temporary, was as Assistant Operator at the Water Treatment Plant. What had started as a temporary job, soon became permanent for Aaron, since he proved himself to be very knowledgeable in the field. Subsequently he was promoted to Plant Operator and was selected to go to Kingston, Jamaica in 1989. He attended the College of Arts, Science and Technology (CAST) for a period of one year, taking a Water and Water Waste Technology course necessary for obtaining his Operator's license. He then returned to Belize to work for two more years and was once again selected to attend another course. This time it was in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He studied at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology for one year, studying advanced levels of the courses he had taken in Jamaica. 

    Aaron returned to Belize in 1992, and was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. San Pedro, Ambergris Caye was about to undergo its new water and sewer system and he was offered the job to spearhead this project and eventually manage the system. Previously, the system consisted of a small reverse osmosis plant capable of producing only 40,000 gallons of water per day for only twelve hours a day. This was backed up by individual wells. This was an inconvenience to the locals, hoteliers and the entire business community. Aaron's assignment was to install a new desalinization plant capable of producing 600,000 gallons of water per day and also installing a full sewer system in San Pedro, equivalent to the one in Belize City. This goal was achieved, once again proving Aaron's expertise.

    Presently, he holds the post of Systems Supervisor of the San Pedro branch of WASA. He is engaged to Ms. Melissa Cuellar who is the Operations Supervisor at Atlantic Bank Limited. Together they plan to make San Pedro their home permanently. He enjoys various sports and other community functions, in spite of his very demanding job, being on call twenty-four hours a day. San Pedro is expanding very fast, so he has little time to join clubs or be very active in other activities, but when the occasion arises, he is all for it.

    Aaron told the San Pedro Sun, "I have enjoyed the seven years I've been in San Pedro. I don't see myself living anywhere else. The support and friendliness of the people have been great. My job is public service in the office or at home. I do my best to resolve the problems as they arise."

    Aaron has been a wonderful addition to our community. His knowledge and ability in his field have improved the everyday life of almost everyone in San Pedro. He has proven himself a productive and worthy member in "Our Community." Way to go Aaron!!!