Drivers Beware: Caved Portion of Highway won’t be Fixed in a Hurry

If you are heading out of Belize City via the Haulover Bridge, you would see on the right-hand side that works are in its initial stages for the installation of a new state-of-the-art bridge. But further up the highway, near mile seven, there is still a slight diversion where a portion of the road had washed away. Back on Christmas Eve, the embankment collapsed into the Belize River. At that time, the Chief Engineer told News Five that it would take months to fix. On Monday, we got confirmation from Minister Julius Espat that last week a contract was finally signed with M&M Engineering to the tune of one point four million dollars for the repairs. But, he could not say when the work would be completed. In the meantime, the collapsed portion of the roadway has only a couple of traffic cones and remnants of yellow caution tape to warn drivers about a potentially serious hazard along the winding river route. On Monday, Minister Espat was asked why repairs are taking so long.

Julius Espat

Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development & Housing

“You are looking at a retaining wall that has to be built to certain specifications. Those materials are not available in country. The ones that are available, have to be built; they have to be prefabricated and then installed. There is a process for everything so I don’t take your commentary as truthful.”

Reporter

“So when will it be finished? If you are on that road every day, sir, it is a nightly hazard.”

Julius Espat

“Yes, but you are also the one that said we have to follow the rule of law so we had to go to the House of Representatives to get the expenditure approved. That was done. We have now gone through the process of having the Contractor General review the submissions that we made and he just sent a letter last week approving that. And since then, we have signed a contract with the person that’s going to build it.”