Albert and Regent Street dug up again
In December of 2008, the Ministry of Works paved the Regent and Albert Streets with the hot mix, an expensive paving process which was expected to last almost a decade before any repairs would be needed. But by January of 2009, Belize Water Services Limited had to cut out a large piece of the costly asphalt to search for a leak. B.W.S.L. was not the only utility company that needed to go under the streets. Telemedia’s Tux Vasquez warned in December that the utility company had over one hundred eighty manholes under the streets and it would eventually need access to them. And today, Vasquez explained to News Five’s Jose Sanchez why maintenance crews have begun to cut the tarmac.
Arturo “Tux” Vasquez, Gen. Mgr. Service Delivery, Telemedia
“Because we knew that the roads would have been paved, we decided to fix all our manholes and we put it to the specifications at the time or either too high or too low because they know where the height of the street would have been. But, as you know, it took a while for that to happen and during that we had a lot of rain a lot rains, a lot paving, grading filling and what not so at the end of the day what happen the way we have build our manholes, it was not at the same levels. Then the whole hot mix thing came about and they figured the best thing to do at the time would have been to cover the whole street. With a hundred and eighty manholes at that, they decided they would cover it and later on come back and try give access to it. So that happened as you know, and at the time my concern really was that once we get back to try to get their manhole my concern was not for B.T.L. not to have that bad publicity for B.T.L. in the sense we are now breaking up the streets.”
“We were having a bit of problem on Regent streets. Where we had to start put some overhead lines. But not for too long but during this time we were still trying to get government’s Ministry of works and you and the City Council to work with us. And after a while, lee difficulty to get the meetings going, we eventually got to Belmopan with all the right people. And I can now say we’re basically moving ahead, if you notice on Regent Street in particular. They are cutting away for the manholes and the arrangement we have right now that they will make—give us access to the manholes. We will fix the manholes with the levels that we believe need and they will—if there is any need to do resurfacing, they will take that on. I can’t tell you exactly whether it’s the whole one hundred eighty that would be lifted. Some of them are just right on the surface some are above. But as we speak they are cutting and the ministry has somebody cutting away quite neatly. They have to little bit of space for us of course, to work with the manholes. We have the contract of fixing the manholes. Following that, if there have to be any major resurfacing, they will do that. We are doing right now , we are trying to fill the corners with concrete that is mixed specifically to take so may pounds P.S.I.’s. to you know to allow for the traffic so all in all I can that I think that it will turn out to be–so far it’s going pretty good.”
Vasquez says that Telemedia is spending about fifty to seventy-four thousand dollars on the project and their work on the streets should be complete within the next couple of weeks.
