New northern border station inaugurated
A few months ago a new modern customs and immigration facility was inaugurated at the Western Border–and today its carbon copy made its official debut in the north. This afternoon I travelled up the highway for a look.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
If you haven’t been to the Santa Elena border recently, this is the image etched in your mind. But today those cramped confines have been replaced with this modern facility set on an expansive compound and complete with plenty of parking.
Constructed at a cost of seven million Belize dollars, the new building is expected to greatly reduce the congestion and confusion that has characterized the northern border for decades.
Deon Pascascio, C.E.O., Ministry of Tourism
“It was designed in such a way that we have a smooth flow of traffic, which means that cargo is separated from persons. And also, there is a separate bus lane from the regular traffic. The hallways are set up in such a way that as you enter the country, first you meet immigration, and there is ample space for people to stand out of the elements, like we used to experience at the old border. Then you go to the customs, then the customs cashier is the last area.”
“In the long-term, how it is set up to work is that if you’re going to Chetumal or coming into the country and you have nothing to declare for example and just went for a day trip or something, you would be able to in the long run be able to drive through the booths outside of the carport. For now the whole system trying to get customs and immigration a feel of the building. So eventually you’re going to have that convenience whereby you won’t have the congestion inside the building were everyone has to park and come in the building as well.”
People aside, the new compound also features a separate area for cargo.
Deon Pascascio
“That cargo building is going to allow the trucks to reverse unto the ramp and then goods will be offloaded so that customs could check them properly and load them back onto the truck before they enter the country of before the leave the country, whichever is necessary. So on both sides, for the people side and for the cargo side, there has been vast improvements and definitely I’m sure that with time… the whole facility was designed for another fifteen to twenty years, that was the projection, but we did some major studies at the border in Tijuana, so we’re able to get an idea of the traffic and how best to facility traffic. So we’re hoping that it’s going to speeding up everything for both cargo and on the person side.”
On average, it is estimated that at least three thousand people cross the border every day. The constant traffic translates into a significant economic opportunity for the north.
Johnny Briceño, Deputy Prime Minister
“If you look at what has happened in the Commercial Free Zone, we have almost over two thousand visitors per day. And if you looked at the borders, the congestion it was causing, it was creating a serious problem. If the Commercial Free Zone is to expand, to grow, we have to provide better facilities. Also as we continue the trade with Mexico, Mexico is probably one of the largest training partners, and for us to be able to continue to open up markets into Mexico we have to have the facilities here. If we want to provide for instance, beef that we feel is a viable market for us in Mexico, or the rice that we produce, we have to have the necessary facilities here at the border so that whenever we try to import or export our products into Mexico, it’s going to be easier with these modern facilities.”
The new border area in Santa Elena was officially opened today. The building and compound was designed by Structure Architects, Julius and Anna Espat, and constructed by Rudler Construction Company’s Larry and Rodney Flowers.
