G.O.B. Spends Almost $7M for Private Land to Build Belmopan Hospital

Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere in the media, the initial property that was recommended for the university hospital does not sit next to the U.B. Gym.  According to Nurse Lizett Bell, the government would have to purchase private property to build a road to the hospital.  As it stands, to get to the existing location, one must drive through residential neighborhoods.

 

Lizett Bell, Chief Nursing Officer

“What we would like to dispel is that the area has been allocated or the university would have provided to us is not adjacent to the existing university.  So this property is not beside the gym.  Even the university students would have had to come out of the campus to access this area.  So this area is all the way in Maya Mopan Extension.  So it’s at the south end of the hundred acres that the university owns.  So, in addition to that, being of the distance, we also had to consider the issue of the infrastructure, as Dr. Polanco mentioned.  So it doesn’t have any access roads.  For us to be able to provide services at the tertiary level and the secondary level which this facility will provide, we need to ensure access to the highways.  In doing so, we, or the government would still have to procure private properties for us to gain access to the Hummingbird Highway.”

 

Dr. Jorge Polanco

“And to the Western.”

 

Lizett Bell

“Exactly. So we would also have to put in additional funding for road structures on both ends; meaning, for us to access the Hummingbird and for us to access the George Price Boulevard and into the Western Highway.  So that is something that we had to consider. The project has already started even though we had the issue of the relocation of the land, we still work towards the component of the design and supervision.  So we are at point at his time along with the Central Execution Unit of the Ministry of Economic Development, we are finalizing those proposals or bids that were submitted to them with regards to the design and supervision.  So I don’t foresee or I would not say that this has caused any delays in the estimated timeframe for the completion of the project.”

 

 A release issued by the Government of Belize today states, quote, Cabinet’s only objective in supporting the recommendation to relocate the hospital remains its commitment to providing universal health coverage and ensuring the highest standards of healthcare delivery for all Belizeans, end quote.