Slow but steady progress is being made on the facelift for downtown Belize City. Sidewalks have been completed on one block of Albert Street between South and Dean Streets. Work began earlier this week on the sidewalks between Dean and Prince Streets- right in front of our Channel 7 studio. The Ministry of Works is now supervising the work and today Chief Executive Officer Cadet Henderson was on site. He told us he is satisfied with the work and addressed concerns about the width and drainage.
Cadet Henderson, CEO – Ministry of Works
“Yes I am happy with the texturing and the curve and gutter and the draining improvements that we are adding. Many have commented about the width of the sidewalks but as I said to some of them, when they go to Chetumal, if they go to New York, or Miami they take pictures in front of these wide sidewalks
and we must have some vision when we look at development. Tradition and customs dominate a lot of what we are used to but we must look beyond a year or five years or ten years. The whole idea is to make this area more pedestrian friendly.”
Keith Swift,
Given the width, will there be sufficient space for parking and traffic to flow?
Cadet Henderson,
“Well yes parking will only be permitted on one side of the road in most areas and so yes you win some, you lose some. We are gaining aesthetics, we are gaining more pedestrian comfort.”
Keith Swift,
What about drainage?
Cadet Henderson,
“Most of the drainage is surface drainage, the old drains that exist, we are maximizing their use because every block has a connecting street that has open drains so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Henderson’s optimistic forecast is that the work will be completed within the 6 to 8 weeks. As a bonus he says Queen’s Street and Central American Boulevard may also be paved.
