The Belize National Fire Service will have to find temporary lodging after government sold its headquarters to the Atlantic Bank back in March.
7News has confirmed with Financial Secretary Joe Waight that Cabinet agreed to the sale in February, and signed off on it in March for 2.8 million dollars. The terms of the sale gives the Fire Department 9 months to vacate which would be sometime in December.
Now, the Fin Sec says money has been set aside to build a new headquarters near Chetumal Street - but, it hasn't been constructed, so they Fire Department will have to find a temporary arrangements, likely near the Marion Jones Stadium. And, some of its offices will have to be moved into another fire department substation on Fairweather Street.
This is what Minister Edmond Castro told LOVE TV about the sale:
Hon. Edmond Castro, Minister responsible for Fire Department
"Atlantic Bank paid the government of Belize for that portion of land. I think they want it maybe for parking. I think they are in the area where they don't have any parking for their business. That money has been paid to the government of Belize which in turn we are setting up the new head quarters for the fire department in the Chetumal Street area, somewhere over there. The money is sufficient to build the fire station with adequate land space for parking, for the fire station and I think if my memory serves me right that we will have some money out of that set said to also have a fire station in the municipal airstrip area."
"Even if they did not complete that transaction, the fire department had already located adequate piece of land in that Chetumal Street area so the headquarters for fire would have moved there anyhow because it is really crammy for the type and size of trucks to be maneuvering in and out of that area."
The current fire department building was built in the PUP's so called "bloated contracts" boom of the early 90's where an Italian firm named PICO SRL was contracted to construct a number of buildings.
The Fin Sec says the current 2.8 million dollar price tag was based on a fair valuation of current market value.
