Mayor Says St. Thomas Street was Decent Before B.W.S. dug it up  

On Monday, we reported on the Belize City Council’s ambitious six-million-dollar plan to fix the damaged streets across the city. While this project is desperately needed, the council was initially unsure where the funding would come from. Despite this, work has already started. Repairs on Thomas Street, which has been in disrepair for about eight months, are now underway thanks to a collaboration between Belize Telecommunications Limited, Belize Water Service, and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing. In an interview today, Mayor Bernard Wagner explained why the repairs took so long to begin.

 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“That street was never to be rehabilitated It was a decent street prior to it being dogged up by BWS. It was a decent street that was in our plan to rehabilitate that street. We have people living in worse conditions than on St. Thomas Street at that point in time. So we didn’t even have that as a planned street to rehabilitate, but one of the utilities companies, brought on by certain elements went out ahead without approval from us, dug the street up and that is when it went into a real sort of state that we had to know stepping on, then we stepped in and along with the BWS, Digi, and MIDH, we were able to. It’s a street that has been funded by the city. It’s just that they are paying up front and we, we, um, offset over a period of three years, but at the end of the day, it’s a street that is still being funded by the city with the, with the exception of course of MIDH who really contributed close to three hundred twenty-five thousand towards it.”

 

Reporter

“So the utility companies are putting in roughly?”

 

Bernard Wagner

“Three twenty-ve. Each company has committed to three hundred and twenty-five thousand. Again, it’s a sort of collaborative effort. But so as not to really bring any stresses on, the council’s cash flow.  over one year period, we said we’ll spread it over a three-year period instead.”