The nights are long in Belize for a 70-year-old Jamaican man who dreams of nothing other than being reunited with his family in St Catherine, Jamaica, after being in that country for 15 years.

Information reaching THE STAR is that the local man, Hubert Minott, went to Belize to take up on a job offer and has been there since. Attempts to call his cellphone were unsuccessful as several calls went directly to his voicemail. However, a close friend of Minott, Elizabeth Jones, who contacted this newspaper from Belize said that from her understanding, the job offer Minott originally came there for fell through and left him in a tight financial spot. One that would see him not having enough money to come back home to Jamaica right away, hence he stayed and tried finding odd jobs, one of which included selling coconuts.

"I knew him for a long time but it wasn't until recently that I found out about his story," Jones said. "I saw him at the hospital looking very down, so I went over to talk to him and that is when he told me about his family and everything and how they used to live in Spanish Town."

Jones said that her daughter even set up a personal page on the social-networking website Hi5.com on behalf of Minott to assist him in finding his family. There have been no breakthroughs so far. The page also has photos of Minott and his family on it.

The 'About Me' section of the page reads: "I'm in Belize for the past 14 years, I've lost contact with my family in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and I'm trying to find them. I love them and I just want them to know that I'm still alive and I can't reach them. I think about them every day and its hard living without them."

It continued: " If anyone sees this, please, if you know where they are please, please contact me. Their names are Hubert Everal Minott, Javar Recardo Minott, Shanike Minott, Sharon Belafonte-Minott. We used to live at 4 Wellington Drive, Hopedale, Spanish Town."

Jones said that anyone having any information about Minott's family should contact 1-501-629-7067 or 1-501-629-3167.