Loan paves the way for 23 miles of Southern Highway
Dean Barrow
A forty-seven million dollar agreement was signed between the government and CISCO Construction Limited on February twenty-eighth for the paving of twenty-three miles of the Southern Highway, leading to the Guatemalan border. Funds for that project are expected to be provided through a loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the OPEC Fund for the International Development and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The CABEI portion of the loan agreement was just approved by the House of Representatives at last Friday’s meeting. The loan of four point five million dollars has a term of twenty years at five point nine percent interest per annum. According to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, the Northern Highway will also be upgraded.
Dean Barrow
“We’re looking at trying to repair the Northern Highway, trying to widen it, trying to do proper drainage between the Haulover, from the Haulover Bridge going up and that’s what the one of the loan motions is about, the other is with respect to the Jalacte Road Project and that’s underway with the Northern Highway it is only for technical assistance this first amount in terms of the Jalacte Motion that started because we’ve already been able to draw down, since that is being co-financed by CABEI and the loan motion that we passed today had to do with the CABEI portion of the loan because OPEC is a part of the co-financing arrangement and we’ve already been able to draw down on the OPEC financing, that is in process that is in train even as we speak in fact I’m told that uh CISCO Construction has given about three hundred and thirty-odd jobs to villagers in the areas a consequence of that project having been commenced.”
The other loan of three hundred and fifty US dollars was approved on Friday to finance a feasibility study and designs for the upgrading of the Northern Highway from the Haulover Bridge to the junction of the old airport road. That loan is to be repaid in thirty-two quarterly payments at two and a half percent interest per annum.
Some time very late in the 90’s or very very early in the first decade of the present century, it was at that time when the Guatemalan peasant invasion of our country was at its hight, that I read either in the Amandala or the Belize time, I am not so sure in which, that Britain had set aside some twenty-odd million pound sterlings for this Jalacte Road project. I have tried to pin-point the time and the newspaper that published the information but, neither newspaper have archives avialable in the internet that date way back to that time. It would be nice to know what happened to that money.
THIS IS WAY TOO EXPENSIVE………. at most ……IT SHOULD BE $1 MILLION DOLLARS PER MILE.
AND IT BETTER BE WIDE ENOUGH….. BELIZE IS GROWING!!!
AND………we need another BRIDGE CROSSING THE RIVER somewhere BETWEEN HALOVER AND BELCAN BRIDGES.
Another waste of money this should be used for job creation this will only make it easier for the drug runners to do their job does this pm ever get anything right .
ONION SKIN PAVE ROAD.. LOL.. 47 million dollars damn …..so How much of the 47 mill is going to be used to the pave the road???????????????????????????????????????
there is no answer I am sure.. lol..
government… whats the point of having one.. when they care less of the people each and every day….
disappointment one after the other….. SAD SAD SAD
@Rod, building roads DOES create jobs. In fact road building is one of the few government job creation projects that actually leads to real economic development.
Another wool over the Voter’s eyes, political strategy (Soon Come). Yes, we do need these things but at the end of the day, we have no money according to the Prime Minister a long time ago. Then how will GOB satisfy these loans while the country’s unemployment rate is so high and our people are suffering?. Mr. Man, you could fool some ah di people some ah di time, but you can’t fool all ah di people all ah di time. Try wah nex wan.
Please fix and check and repair the Haulover before it falls-every goddam sunday they have cones etc for wasa-why don’t they use their heads and check it/maintain simultaneously?
When will this project start. Come on lets pave that road to Jalacte. Let us not wait before election time to bribe the people that it will be pave. The people are seeing and monitoring.
pave the road to Jalacte.
let us see if it will come to pass
Prime minister Barrow exact words…
“We’re looking at trying to repair the Northern Highway, trying to widen it, trying to do proper drainage between the Haulover, from the Haulover Bridge going up and that’s what the one of the loan motions is about…
Now Belize people listen carefully, the man say’s he’s going to try, so when the projects are not completed, don’t get vex..hahahaa! People take serious thing mek joke. He used the word trying three times, don’t forget Barrow is first and foremost a lair…no, no, no, correction lawyer.
So nice for the Guatemalan people to be able to travel on paved roads to invade our country. The Progresso/San Estaban people are still waiting for their paved road so they can do their everyday traveling back and forth. I just spent another $400 for the 3rd time in less than 2years to replace ball joints on my wheels. According to Prime Minister the European Union already gave the money not loaned but GAVE and yet we still cannot get our road fix to the point where it is at least usable without tearing up your vehicle. I just don’t understand……….
to those who are querying about the road , building of the road has started in march this year, the 47 million is spent because the road their is nothing in comparison to any road here in belize. those are very mountainous area and they need to be levelled down, and some gullies will need to be filled up. so lets stop talking if we dont have a clue of what is being done to spend the money.
All infrastructural upgrade is a benefit to the economy. However, everything that the GOB does should be prioritized. All major highways in this country, especially the Western, Northern and Hummingbird should have a major upgrade, for obvious reasons.
After this the coastal highway should be paved, promptly, this will allow goods and products traversing from north to south with much more convenience and alleviate the high potential of accidents due the mountainous terrain through the Hummingbird, it will also significantly impact the cost of living in the south for all distributors will be able to transport goods to that part of the country at a more economical cost, which can translate to cheaper goods on the shelves.
After that, all dilapidated and one way bridges should be replaced with better, two-lane bridges.
Then GOB should focus on thoroughfares, i.e. roads leading into Villages that have been semi-paved or are simply dirt roads.
This will be a big compromise, but the compromise will be for the benefit of future Belizeans, we need to sacrifice ourselves for the betterment of future Belizeans, just like Belizeans in the past did for us and we are benefiting today.
This should also employ a lot of Belizeans who will end up with a valuable skill-set labor sector of the country.
This will not only be a benefit for Belizeans, but will be a huge benefit for the growing tourism industry.
Bottom line, this project does not seem to be prioritized right, but I will support it nonetheless for it is a benefit for my country and countrymen.
priorities are mixed up
Ita about time other areas in Belize get some infrastructure. Narrow-sighted people need to understand that Belize is not made up of just southside. Good money being wasted in southside and nobody complain. Money from Progresso road used to pave Regent and Alberts…shame
Why would someone with common sense barrow forty-seven million dollars to invest on a road when unemployment in the Jewel is at it’s highest.What revenue if any will the Jewel get back from the building of this road.Furthermore are security measures in place to ensure that people from Guatemala are not just going to come over to our Jewel as they please?