New Cement Bridge in San Pedro Should Be Ready By Easter

The new cement bridge that connects both sides of San Pedro Town in Boca del Rio should be ready for use by Easter. The crossing was deemed necessary after the Sir Barry Bowen Bridge wooden bridge almost collapsed in the latter part of last year. The planks were lifting and the structure was not sturdy enough for freight with construction supplies to cross over. The San Pedro Town Council has had to scramble to find five million dollars for the construction of the new bridge, but also to repair the old one for use. When completed, the new cement bridge will have lights in the centre for traffic going both directions. Minister of the Blue Economy, Andre Peres is the Area Representative for Belize Rural South. He told us that in order to avoid another situation like what happened in this case, there has to be a system put in place for timely maintenance of the bridge.

Andre Perez

Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South

“The old bridge has been broken up because it’s dilapidated. You’ll recall that in 2021 in May, six months after the town council got elected, that bridge almost collapsed. It was a hazard, so we had to scramble and the mayor and I had to really see what we could have done to give immediate attention to it. So that in itself made us build another concrete structure, which is already done, and right now we’re repairing it. It’s only eighteen months. While the image out there is that the work is slow, I think in eighteen months we’ve made strides, big strides. But I can understand the desperation of our people after so many years of abandonment, the infrastructure dilapidating – almost in shambles. We’re expecting by the end – next couple of months, it will be finished and we will have the next bridge in place and properly organized. We have to take into consideration preventative maintenance. Don’t wait until it’s totally dilapidated to deal with it. If we put a mechanism in place it becomes less expensive for the municipality and for the community.”