A Handsome Sum for Chon Saan to Become Immigration Belmopan?

Will the Government of Belize pay as much as four million Belize dollars for the Chon Saan Palace Restaurant building in Belmopan? That’s what News Five sources say, though manager and President of the Senate Lee Mark Chang is out of country and not available to confirm. We can tell you that the Ministry of Finance had sourced three options for a new headquarters for the Immigration Department and selected Chang’s building. All that remains is to fix the price. But, the valuations done by the Ministry of Finance and separately, Chon Saan, resulted in different prices, leading to further negotiation. Chang has claimed in other media that he wants to move to a smaller location and has agreed to take half the final price up front and the rest later. The Ministry insists that the highest and most transparent standards were met in the transaction. So why the need for the new building? We are told that in addition to a space of its own, the Department is anticipating a U.S. donation of a two-million dollar passport system – but the donation will not come through unless it can be housed in a new structure. We will continue to follow the story.