If you thought $200 was already a quite a bit to pay for a US visa application, well pretty soon you can add bus fare to Belmopan onto that price. That's because the US Embassy is moving to the capital city, lock, stock and barrel, as they say.
This morning US Ambassador Russell Freeman along with Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno and CEO of the US State Department Overseas Buildings Operations Charles Williams broke ground on the 10-acre plot in Belmopan. Freeman says that when it is completed the building will house all of the US Embassies operations in the new headquarters.
Russell Freeman, US Ambassador to Belize
"The plan is that all the consular services will move to Belmopan. We realize that may be somewhat of an inconvenience for the people that live in Belize City, but it will be more convenient for the people that live in Belmopan, San Ignacio, and South as they have to come through Belmopan to go to Belize City. But we think we can deliver more efficient services to Americans that are in Belize and the Belizean people by having our new facility in the capital."
The building is expected to cost in the range of US50 million. It is contracted out to a Central American company.
