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#426774 01/05/12 08:14 AM
Joined: Oct 1999
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The city streets are in a state after the long December rains - but fear not the Ministry of Works is coming to bail out the city council once again.

Councilor Dean Samuels today told us that a program of work has been outlined:..

Dean Samuels - City Councilor
"What I have done with my works manager, since Tuesday and today, was passing on these streets, looking at them, and what we did was basically what we call an estimate, how much loads it will take to repair these streets and get it done properly, with proper drainage and culverts if needed. So we will not be fixing streets where another rain comes along, and it will be destroyed. Again, a lot of these streets are earthen streets, so they will be rehabilitated. What happens next is that these estimate specs will be given to the Ministry of Works, where they personally will then provide the Belize City Council with material through the Ministry of Works to get the job done. What the Ministry of Works is doing, they're going to give us finances to utilize machinery to get it done properly."

We'll have more on the scope of works tomorrow...

Channel 7


Marty #426889 01/06/12 08:36 AM
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75 City Streets To Be Upgraded

As we told you last night, after the rains battered the city's already dilapidated streets - the Ministry of Works and the City council are teaming up for major rehabilitation and capital works - need we say it? - just in time for elections.

An initial assessment has been made, and yesterday councilor with responsibility for street maintenance Dean Samuels told us what's next:..

Dean Samuels, Councilor
"There are some of the streets that definitely will be capital projects, as per say. The Partridge Street extension definitely that's a capital project, definitely the Ministry of Works will be dealing with that one specifically. The Belize City council will be dealing with streets in the residential areas that definitely won't be as cost effective. So those are the streets we are definitely looking to addressed, in the Lake Independence area especially there is a lot of streets that need proper drainage, proper culvert and resurfacing, so those we will be dealing with."

"The ministry of work will be doing some work as the PM said in the Caribbean Shores area, let me list some of these streets definitely that will be done and these streets will be paved, these ones that I am listing will be paved. You have the Princess Margaret Drive that's right across from BTL, that section is pretty low. Whenever we have weather it deteriorates rapidly, that will be paved."

"You have Independence and Sea Shore drive, which will be paved, Lizaragga Avenue will be paved, Vasquez Avenue, Smith Street will be paved, Sunrise Avenue that will be paved also, you also have Applestar that will be paved Rivero Street that's in the Queen Square area, definitely that will be paved."

"So basically these will be done by the ministry of works, these pave streets will be done by the ministry of works. What I was asked by the minister of works to do was personally go into the different divisions, find the streets that are in more dire need and these are the streets that definitely will be getting done by the city council."

"The Prime Minister basically said the morning that he will be assisting the Belize city council with over I believe of $150,000.00 worth of material to help to get the work done."

A total of about 75 streets throughout the city have been designated for works.

Channel 7


Marty #427025 01/07/12 08:11 AM
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Ministry of Works paving major streets

Also here on the north side, late this evening the Ministry of Works and City Council were in Caribbean Shores assessing the streets that are about to be paved. Boots singled out Caribbean Shores and Freetown for areas that are being upgraded. In the Freetown, the P.U.P. party leader and area representative will be challenged the U.D.P.'s Lee Mark Chang, who we are told benefited from the Prime Minister's Christmas cash bonanza. But according to Boots Martinez, other streets across the city will see some repair.

Anthony 'Boots' Martinez, Minister of Works

"What will be happening, we are getting ready to do the whole drainage for Sunrise and Applestar and we'll be paving both Sunrise and Applestar. The contractor is doing his preliminary work in terms of preparing the drain. We'll be back here tomorrow to start to put in the culverts and start to prepare both streets for paving."

Jose Sanchez

"What about those streets that were already paved, but they have traditional potholes that they fill it and the rain washes it away?"

Anthony 'Boots' Martinez

"Well now, the City Council is all and good-they have gotten some resources from the Prime Minister and councilor Samuels is out there starting to patch the main thoroughfares and all the little streets that need to be done and they will be upgrading some streets in Lake Independence, Collet, Port Loyola, Queen Square and other areas. But the bulk of the work will be done on Caribbean Shores and Freetown. Of course we will be paving back Lizarraga Avenue, we'll be doing Seashore Drive all the way to Boulevard there, we're doing that portion by Princess Market Drive by B.T.L. and we're doing Smith Street, Vasquez Avenue; so the loops going on. But those will be done to paving standards."

Jose Sanchez

"Caribbean Shores and Freetown; why those particular areas?"

Anthony 'Boots' Martinez

"Well of course like I mentioned, works will be done in other parts of the city, but the main work will be done, the majority of the work to paving standards will be done in Caribbean Shores and Freetown. Of course there is this multimillion dollar project parting through Port Loyola, Neal's Penn Road, Jane Usher Boulevard-those will be paved to standard. So at the end of the day, it's not just that one, but it is very important for the people of Caribbean Shores also to and the people of Freetown who we think deserve to get the basic services from what government and the council have to offer. We have the major IDB project that will be touching on the north side in Belama Phase 3 and 4 drainage and some part of drainage like the street by Calle Al Mar and so forth. So I think everybody di do their just share."

Channel 5


Marty #427292 01/10/12 08:20 AM
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Road Works In City Underway

And in another move - that's just in time for elections - we today found Works Minister Boots Martinez looking on as the approaches to the bridge across South Creek in Belize city were paved.

We've been closely following the progress of work on this bridge for months. It's been slow going, and work had stalled for a while - when it looked like engineers were trying to figure out how to make the streets meet the elevated bridge.

But they did, and now the entire area has been nicely upgraded. We got a look at the works today.

Hon. Boots Martinez, Minister of Works
"We are doing the final preparation for the approach for the bridge on both sides from South Creek, Ramsey Street, North Creek and Seagull Street."

Jules Vasquez
"This bridge - some people make propaganda out of it. Certainly we in the media have been pressuring all to finish up with it. It is accomplished."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"Well like what I always explain to people, even as I am the Minister I am now engineer. So seeing things on face value might not be what the final product might be and especially this bridge is for the People's United Party and Bullet who have been making ad out of it and not understanding that this is an engineering aspect and what need to be done."

Jules Vasquez
"How would you answer the criticism that you all had to revamp the entire area because the bridge was so mismatch for the setting it was in that you had to change the whole drainage, change the whole street and change everything."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"The main thing was that you need to work with the logistics of what existed. For you to make that bridge a vehicular bridge, you had to change the logistic of the area. Remember it was just a pedestrian bridge. So for you to make it into a vehicular traffic bridge you had to change the whole logistics of the whole area."

Jules Vasquez
"But for a while there you all didn't look like you knew what you were doing because the bridge seems too big."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"It's not because it seem too big. The bridge was made to facilitate both vehicular and pedestrian. So it's not like it looks like we didn't know what we were doing, look at the final product."

Jules Vasquez
"It took a little while though."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"Yes everything takes a little while."

Jules Vasquez
"Everything with the Ministry of Works seems to take a little while."

Hon. Boots Martinez
"No man. How you mean everything with the Ministry of Works seems to take a little while. We have been delivering on a consistent basis. He who fails to prepare must prepare to fail."

Martinez says that work on the much complained about Jane Usher Boulevard should start by the end of this month. And Neal's Pen Road, he promises, is set for February.

Channel 7


Marty #427438 01/11/12 09:42 AM
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Electioneering or Genuine Works?

We all know the popular tune - love is in the air-but how about its companion - Election is in the Year? All around us are the signs that elections - at least the municipal election - are just around the corner.

This was visible today as we at 7news responded to an invitation to see men at work. The well-known Princess Margaret Drive received some much-needed attention today after suffering years of neglect.

This morning, before he got broadsided by the BML workers, Councilor Roger Espejo told us the Council timing is mere coincidence. But what is not coincidence is that he is the third politician in a week to go on air about the same few hundred feet of road! Here's what he had to say:..

Roger Espejo, City Councilor
"The area behind me is on Princess Margaret Drive for some time now. Anybody that traverses this area when it rains knows that it really has become a water catchment area, so for the past year the area has been deteriorating slowly, and we were waiting for the right time for the sun to be out to upgrade the area."

"The area had to be lifted and so a lot of materials were put on the street to lift the entire area. It was compacted, and we are happy to say that we have already surface-dressed this portion of Princess Margaret Drive."

Marion Ali, Love FM
"Now you mention it is the right time being the sun is out, but a lot of people and your opponents will tell you that 'listen, the right time is because it's two months away from elections because the whole city had been tearing and ripping up for what? Two, three years, maybe longer?"

Roger Espejo, City Councillor
"Well, actually I could tell you that that's not the case because this is tax season for the City Council, and this is when the City Council collects taxes, but I would go further to tell you that this is a collaboration with the Ministry of Works, and they have always been collaborating with the Belize City Council, and so that's really not the case. That's nonsense."

"If so be the case then we would have been electioneering for the past three years because there are several projects the City Council has done; Mercy Lane, to be precise, was one that we paved two years ago when we first got in. Were we electioneering then?"

Marion Ali, Love FM
"But still there are many streets that have been deteriorating."

Roger Espejo, City Councillor
"We agree, and it has been because of the revenues and because of our budget, but slowly and surely again we are coming into the tax season when the City Council collects property taxes and trade licenses, and so more work will be happening this time around."

Monica Bodden
"I am sure that there were other tax seasons. Why wait until now to get the streets fixed?"

Roger Espejo, City Councillor
"Every year around this time we do major projects actually. We have collaborated with the Ministry of Works recently to do Dunn Street. We did St. James Street, St. Edward Street and Mercy Lane. Up in the Caribbean Shores Urban Avenue was paved and a couple others in that area, so you're right. Work was supposed to be happening then, and it did happen then."

Marion Ali, Love FM
"The works that are ongoing, it's a Ministry of Works thing that's happening. This is not Belize City Council."

Roger Espejo, City Councillor
"Again we collaborate with the Ministry of Works to do these infrastructural works. You have to understand that the Belize City Council in terms of the budget that we manage is a rather small budget compared to the Ministry of Works, so there are times when, yes, we have to ask the government for help. The taxes, again, that the city collects because of the economic state of Belize City sometimes doesn't fulfill our entire mandate, and so we do have to seek government's help. Who is to say that the taxes that we collect are befitting of all the work that needs to get done."

"A study on that has to be done really to see if the taxes that we collect and the work that we need to do commensurate with one another."

Espejo says the overall project on Princess Margaret Drive will amount to 45 thousand dollars.

Channel 7


Marty #428241 01/18/12 08:58 AM
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A Tale Of Two Streets

In our broad survey of bad streets in Belize City, we think we've found a winner!

Yes, yes, we know you all have your personal favorites; some of you like the rows of craters on Neal's Pen Road, some the lakes of Jane Usher Boulevard. But all that aside, we think we have winner: it's Castle Street, the most destroyed, jagged, viscerally rough street in the city.

The pavement has been corroded by years of flooding - and we can safely say, it's now worse than the old logging trails in the Chiquibul!

So then, if the City council has streets to repair on the north side, you might think it would go to Castle Street or maybe even Daly Street - which is more trafficked.

Nope, they went to Seashore Drive, street of the rich and famous. We asked councilor with responsibility for north side works, Roger Espejo, why, oh why:..

Jules Vasquez
"Why pave a street that has some of the richest homes - or the most palatial homes - in the country, when there are so many streets that need work?"

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"Jules, you are absolutely right. Many streets need assistance, but that has nothing to do with how you go about deciding, you know, that this street doesn't deserve - you are assuming that it doesn't. This is a principal thoroughfare, I'll have you know. It's a portion of seashore drive that we are paving today. It's 500 feet, approximately 500 linear feet, and it comes right into one of the more principal thoroughfares, the University Boulevard - which, as you know, is a very well used area. This area is used to exit or enter this entire community behind us. Taxpayers also deserve infrastructure. Everybody does. So, that was neither here nor there in the recommendation of this street."

Jules Vasquez
"However, you can't also change the fact that the Prime Minister's sister lives on this street, and the Prime Minister lives a few hundred feet up on Seashore Drive. "

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"Well, that was never disputed."

Jules Vasquez
"Yeah, but I'm saying are you trying to win an election, or I would think if you are trying to win an election, you would pave the street where the most people live that can help out the most people. When you pave a street like this it seems that you are playing favorites."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"No, Jules. As I mentioned just now, the street is a major thoroughfare for this entire area. The fact that the prime minister lives in this area, what does that have to do with it?"

Jules Vasquez
"Baymen Avenue is a major thoroughfare, and it is in a disastrous state."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"And I'll have you know that other streets are being looked at as well, and others will be developed. You asked me a short while ago when is Lizarraga avenue - that's another main area in a residential community. That will be started in about a week's time."

Jules Vasquez
"It seems that in determining priority, you all may be playing favorites in terms of, this is a used street, but this is not a much used street by most of the citizenry as a thoroughfare that goes between major areas of human occupation and use."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"Jules, that's a subjective statement. A lot of people use this street. This is a..."

Jules Vasquez
"A lot of important people to you use this street, maybe."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"No, a lot of people in general, people that use this area. It's a thoroughfare equally as deserving as any other. If you are saying that the percentage of people that use this street is not as much, I would concede."

"But we are looking at other streets as well. That's what I am saying to counter argue your comment."

Jules Vasquez
"You are saying I have a subjective opinion. Indeed I do in so far as I do not have any data."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"I'm glad you admit to that."

Jules Vasquez
"But you don't have any data either. You cannot tell me how many cars use this as opposed to you say�. and if we are going to talk north side because we do not want to go south side, that's not a pretty sight. But, Douglas Jones Street for example, Wilson Street - that's one of the worst streets - and those are traffic streets now. Those are what people used to get around the city. I am saying that is there a volume metric - something that determines volumes in these streets or do you just say 'PM lives around here'?"

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"Jules, I like when you bring these tactics. Let me skewered them a little bit for you."

Jules Vasquez
"Tell me."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"If you are asking for a survey, we don't have a survey. We have letters from the residents in this area. Letters upon letters asking City Hall time and time again for upgrades in their area because they do, firstly, point out that they are principal tax payers. No one will hide that the north side carries about 70% of the load in terms of the property taxes in this city. So we have to work with the people also Jules."

Jules Vasquez
"So then you admit that you are playing favorites because these people are high volume property tax payers. Some animals are more equal than others."

Roger Espejo- City Councilor
"That's not playing favorites. That's playing fair."

Fair or not, we moved our inquiry up a few pay scales and this afternoon went after Works Minister Boots Martinez in the same area.

He said the paving is justified because it is a bigger part of the plan to alleviate traffic congestion:..

Jules Vasquez
"It has come under some criticism because it's rich man street. It has three palatial mansions, and the Prime Minister's sister is on the next side."

Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez, Minister of Works
"But apart from that, isn't this a main thoroughfare?"

Jules Vasquez
"Is it a main thoroughfare?"

Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez
"It is a main thoroughfare. Don't you see it leads to boulevard? Apart from that, this is part of the loop that we have been fixing around Mercy Divine Church. We have done Golden Avenue; that is almost close to Gulf Hotel. All those streets we try to make sure it's a main thoroughfare especially for the early morning traffic from the northern highway. Most people take this route who are going to the university and who are working at maybe the airstrip or BTL or whatsoever the case may be. This is a main thoroughfare."

Jules Vasquez
"Daly Street is a main thoroughfare. That's in a deplorable condition. How do you determine priority? This isn't a much traffic street."

Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez
"No man, don't talk about no traffic street. Probably what you might need to do, is to come here soon in the morning when there is that rush traffic from off the northern highway. But the priority, I am saying to you, there is more traffic coming on this northern highway than any other road in this country. So if you do the numbers, then you will know that off the northern highway about 7 - 7:30 in the morning it's a problem for you to get in the city."

The entire works along all of Seashore Drive all the way around to Golden Avenue will cost 90 thousand dollars.

According to Espejo, the 500 foot stretch that we saw today cost forty thousand dollars.

Next up for northside paving is LIZARRAGA AVENUE and then SUNRISE AVENUE and APPLE STAR STREET. And on the southside, RIVERO and PARTRIDGE streets.

Channel 7


Marty #428488 01/20/12 08:38 AM
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Been A Long Time Coming; Neal's Pen And Jane To Be Paved

We've heard so many times about the paving of Neal's Pen Road and Jane Usher Boulevard - in fact, we've heard it so much it's reached broken record status - or if you live and drive on those streets, that would be broken front end status!

But at long last, Works Minister Anthony Boots Martinez tells us that the final approval has come from OPEC, the contracts will be signed on Monday and after that, the work will finally begin.

Today he told us it's a relief after all this time:..

Anthony Boots Martinez, Works Minister
"This other phase... well we got approval for the complete Neal's Pen road with side walk and drainage. Jane Usher Boulevard and the canal from Yabra Bridge to the fish market."

"It was approved by OPEC today and we will be signing the contract on Monday and work should begin by the next week. So I should say that by the end of January physical works should be going on, on all those streets. Simultaneously; including the lining of the canal. We anticipate by the end of the month."

Jules Vasquez
"You do realize that you promise this a number of times and the residents of this area have been waiting. They feel in vain for a long time."

Anthony Boots Martinez, Works Minister
"Well I am saying that, the thing is here, we have gotten prior approval, we have all gotten confirm approval of the contractors for the various area."

"The lining of the canal is $9.868, 524.050. Neal's Pen road is $2,791,181 and Jane Usher Boulevard is $1,711,776.25."

Jules Vasquez
"So in total about 13 million?"

Anthony Boots Martinez, Works Minister
"About 13 million."

Jules Vasquez
"Now how many people will be employed for this project?"

Anthony Boots Martinez, Works Minister
"Well, we are negotiation the contractors. They say in my estimation, about 300 people will be employed."

Jules Vasquez
"I know that when I go around, some of the most passionate complaints I hear about the Port Loyola representative has to do with Neal's Pen road and Jean Usher."

Anthony Boots Martinez, Works Minister
"I was looking forward to. I don't think anyone was more excited than me myself as the representative because you know, we were looking forward to make sure; these streets really needed help and so it's a big relief for us , it's a big relief for us in the city, and also too politically it's a big relieve, it's a huge relief."

This is the second phase of the infrastructure component of the Southside project; the first dealt with drainage and the paving of Western Avenue.

Channel 7


Marty #428983 01/29/12 07:59 AM
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Editorial, The Reporter

The Government of Belize has announced its intention to award a contract for the paving of East and West Collet Canal Streets in southside Belize City, and for the narrowing of Collet Canal.

Readers will remember that East Canal, also on southside Belize City, was narrowed in this way with good over-all results.

But it is a good idea to remind ourselves of the essential drainage work these canals perform in keeping Belize City drained, and be aware that if we narrow the canals too much we will be helping to create a flooding problem which could have unexpected results.

Many people have the mistaken notion that Belize City is below sea level. If that were true, our streets would become awash twice a day-- whenever there is a high tide. The truth is that Belize City is an inch or two above sea level, but we still need the canals, which perform as large drainage ditches and as reservoirs to hold catchment water.

When it rains a lot, the water collected on the streets flows into the drains. The drains take the water to the canals, and the canals store the water and take it to the sea.

But sometimes there is a reverse flow. Rising sea levels force sea water into the river and into the canals. If the canals do not have the capacity to hold and store the water, it will flow through the drains into our streets.

We see this from time to time, usually in the month of November, when there are unusually high tides.

The point we want to make here is this:

You cannot increase the drainage and storage capacity of the canals by making them deeper. Whether the canals are two feet deep or six feet deep, the height of the water in them will remain the same.The vast Caribbean sea, which affects the level of the river at Belize City will see to that.

The only way we can affect the drainage and storage capacity of the canals is by making them wider. Therefore when we set out to make them narrower, we must be aware there is an offset price we must pay in drainage and storage efficiency.

We will need a careful engineering study to gauge how far we can go in narrowing Collet Canal. If we narrow too much, we will create a flooding problem from time to time, when there is too much rain or when there are unusually high tides.

Another consideration to bear in mind is global warming. If sea levels should rise by even one or two inches, Belize City will be in trouble. We will not be able to control the flooding, because we will not be able to control the level of the river at Haulover and at Belize City.

We believe that competent engineering studies will indicate to us just how far we can go in re-configuring our drainage system, which is what we are about to do when we undertake to narrow Collet Canal.

The Reporter

Marty #452215 11/29/12 08:15 AM
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A Month To Pave Two Blocks?

If you live in Belize City, you know all about the traffic chaos that's unfolding with the simultaneous paving of so many major streets - including Freetown Road and North Front Street.

And so you can imagine our reaction today when we saw a release from the City Council which said that New Road from its junction with Queen Street to its junctions with Hyde's Lane will be closed for a month - right through Christmas.

Now, why do they need a whole month to pave two city blocks? The mayor explained that it's an experiment in city design:

Darrell Bradley - Mayor, Belize City Council
"We have a special project for the area between Queen Street and Hyde's Lane, and we've contracted IE to full redevelopment of that area, including the drains the sidewalks. We're going to put trees, parking; they're going to look at the whole aesthetics of the area. One of the things that we have been reflecting on is that when we do the streets, the designs are mono-functional. We only deal with the streets, and we cement them. So, what they've done is that they've given us a multifunctional option to see how we've could incorporate drain space, and other modern theories of design elements. So, this is really only an experiment, and we've only picked a short area of road to do. And if this works well, and it's a good design - and I trust that it will be - then we will do that same thing along Coney Drive, and along Albert Street in Belize City."

Jules Vasquez
"How would you respond to the criticism that IE is woefully behind on the project it's doing at the Memorial Park, which is creating a paroxysm in the City at the launch of the cruise tourism season?"

Darrell Bradley
"Let me first say that IE is not behind schedule because the forecasting for that project is that it is to be finished by February next year. And they're all the way - BWS works and crew are all the way to the swing bridge. So in terms of their progress - and a significant amount of work that has already been done - Memorial Park, the basic structure has been completed. They're constructing other structures for the vendors. They've already done North and South Parks; they're already done with Cork Street, so a significant amount of the project is well on the way. So, they're not behind schedule, and I know that residents have expressed serious concerns as it relates to the inconvenience. But when this project is finished - and this project is a project being funded by the IDB, and the implementing agencies, BTB. But when this project is finished, persons will see a major upliftment in this area."

The IE firm also has its headquarters on that portion of New Road.

Channel 7



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