The State of Major Bridges in Belize City
On Thursday, during an interview with the media, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing Julius Espat spoke of the critical condition of the major bridges in Belize City. There is need for rehabilitation and in some cases, replacement. The government has been looking for financing of these projects, but the process has not been an easy one. Minister Espat says that a feasibility study revealed the state of the bridges and also spoke of the need for maintenance of the Hawkesworth Bridge as well.
Julius Espat
Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development & Housing
“We did a feasibility study on the on the BelCan, and we did one on the Bel-China, and we did one on Swing Bridge, the most urgent in need of the three is the BelCan Bridge, because that has suffered some structural damage to the pillars. And Bel-China needs refurbishment of paint and it flaking off a bit of rust and bringing it back. Bel China has a problem in that they abandoned for many years the ability for that bridge to open. You remember that bridge used to be able to open up. And so it was never maintained and I don’t even know who to blame now because it has been so much years. We have to analyze to see if that will have the ability to open up again. And then Swing Bridge, we are in discussions with the government of Japan who is interested in donating a replacement bridge, and we are going through the bureaucratic process with them. They are very, very, very peculiar in how they award these things. Hopefully it can be done and we have a feasibility study that we link the three bridges to the project that we are calling the George Price Highway where we are seeking financing for that to be a part of it. So we are looking at government of Taiwan, government of Japan, CDB, IDB, Kuwait Fund, Norway. We are looking at Saudi Arabia fund, the Qatar Fund to see what is the best option and at the least rate and to be able to get that done because it is critical and not only those bridges you got to the entire country to maintain the bridges. Hawkesworth again, you have to maintain it. And so it’s a daily challenge. Every single day we have bridges and drains and streets and gravel roads and paved roads.”
