G.O.B. opens section five of Southern Highway

With new tourist destinations opening up in the south, the factor of getting visitors there as comfortably as possible is a huge consideration. But improvements to the Southern Highway are well underway, encouraging more tourists and locals alike to go down under. This afternoon, Vildo Marin, in his new capacity as Minister of Works, officially inaugurated section five of the highway during brief ceremonies held in Silk Grass Village. According to Marin, the development of the highway will positively impact the residents of the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts.

Vildo Marin, Minister of Works

“Our tourists, need to have access to the archaeological sites, to the forest reserves, and to other tourist destinations such as Hopkins and Placencia in the Stann Creek District and other parts of the Toledo District. Our hardworking farmers of this district need to have access to their milpas, to their cattle ranches so that they can take out their produce and in so doing improve their livelihood. Good roads are also vital to the banana and citrus industries. And this is the reason why our People’s United Party government in partnership with the British Government, the World Bank, The Caribbean Development Bank, the Inter-American Development, the Kuwait Fund and OPEC are working tirelessly and investing, so as to make this dream become are reality.”

The twenty miles of section five, which incorporates that stretch of road between the South Stann Creek Bridge to the junction at the Hummingbird Highway, was funded jointly by the Government of Belize and the Inter-American Development Bank at a cost of twenty-five million Belize dollars.