San Pedro gets cobblestone street
Visitors to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye may now be told to “follow the brick road” to their hotel or to find a good restaurant. Islanders wanted to improve one of their most important streets, but not loose their village charm. They came up with a novel solution, at least for Belizean cayes, cobblestones. The project, which was dedicated today, was a community effort carried out with government support. News Five was invited to see the smooth results.
Coconut Drive adjacent to San Pedro’s Municipal Airstrip is one of the busiest streets on the island. Because it was until recently only a sandy surface it created problems in both the dryand wet
seasons. There was far too much dust, mud and potholes, making the street an unwelcoming site for those who have just arrived on the island.
Alberto Nuñez, Mayor, San Pedro Town
“Well, something had to be done. We had consultations with the people and nobody wanted asphalt or other things so we decided we’re going to do it like this as a trial.”
Q: “And everybody agreed to it?”
Alberto Nuñez
“Apparently everybody look at it as a positive move.”
Five hundred and six feet of the street has been paved with cobblestones. The project, which was done in conjunction with the San Pedro Town Board, Ministry of Works, business establishments and community members cost one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. One company that came forward and donated eighteen thousand dollars is Tropic Air. According to the island’s local Station Manager, Catherine Paz it is not the first time Tropic Air has assisted in community projects but this particular project affected the company directly.
Catherine Paz, Station Manager, Tropic Air
“Tropic Air has always played an important role in projects within the country of Belize especially here in San Pedro. We feel that with the proximity with our offices to the airport it was very meaningful to be a part of this, tourists arriving on the island and we needed a good first impression and we think that this is a contributing factor to people coming here for the first time and visitors who come back.”
Both the local residents and tourists we spoke to only had high praise for the construction work done by Medina Construction of Orange Walk.
Q: “What do you think about the improvement?”
Resident
“It is pretty nice. They should make all the streets like this.”
Q: “What was it like before?”
Resident
“Oh, a lot of mud and potholes.”
Tourist #1
“It’s better than the sand. It’s much cleaner; it’s pretty, very nice.”
Tourist #2
“Oh I think it is really nice. It will keep down a lot of dust and it fits with the setting. It’s great!”
The Mayor says although the cobblestones appear to be popular, he does not know at this point if other streets will be improved in the town because of financial constraints.
