The Dump (also referred to simply as Dump) is a small village/settlement in the Toledo District. It lies along the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway, approximately 20 km inland from Punta Gorda Town, at an elevation of 34 m above sea level.
The Dump was developed in the late 1950s as a government-designated site for commercial rice production and was explicitly called the envisioned “rice bowl” of British Honduras. In July 1959, it comprised a 5,000-acre low-lying basin with 35 tenant farmers cultivating 97 acres of rice. Yields depended on natural flooding (up to 3,000 lbs/acre in dry years) from Mafredi Creek overflowing into the Río Grande; a drainage/impolder project was authorised to stabilise production. This was part of broader post-WWII efforts to expand rice farming in the Toledo District.[1]
The name “The Dump” was already in official use by 1959 and was described in contemporary agricultural reports as an “un-alluring name” for the site. It refers to a well-defined 5,000-acre basin where Mafredi Creek naturally overflows and “dumps” water northward across the area into the Río Grande during the rainy season.[1]
While the origin of the name isn't explicitly mentioned, the low-lying, flood-prone topography is most probably the geographic basis for the name.
The nearest major airport is in Punta Gorda Town.
The Punta Gorda Substation is located at the Dump, redistributing power from the Independence Switching Station to Punta Gorda and the Western frontier.
The village sits directly on the Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway (also historically known as the Stann Creek–Punta Gorda Road). It serves as the junction for the San Antonio Road, which runs east toward the Guatemala border and provides access to several Mayan villages. The Thomas Vincent Ramos Highway was paved in the 1990s and the San Antonio Road in 2012.
Two secondary schools are located in the village.
The Centre for Employment Training and the Julian Cho Technical High School which was named after the late Maya activist Julian Cho.[2]
These schools provide a higher education to the surrounding villages.
The Dump has no clinics or hospitals. The nearest hospital is in Punta Gorda Town.