And the city is in the middle of its own large and vexing project: that is the replacement of drain and manhole covers across the city, scores of them.
But, as they fix them, they are broken. The mayor says that they are looking at measures to enforce against the drivers that disregard the laws and drive on the sidewalks, causing the manholes to break:
Bernard Wagner, Mayor of Belize City
"Manhole is an ongoing challenge for the city because as we repair and we put in we have these motorists, especially on the Freetown road, right in front of the Li Chee restaurant, they drive on the sidewalk, listen manholes and covers are not made to withstand the weight of vehicles, it is made to withstand the weight of pedestrians walking and when we have motorists, totally don't care about what the city is spending, it costs the city. It not only costs the city in repairing and replacing but it costs the city in litigation. We have faced significant rise in litigation costs for people having damages due to manhole and so we continue to work, it's a work in progress, It's a work in really educating the residents the motorists that listen: don't drive on the manhole covers because it continues to cost the city and we just have to continue to press on. Of course we'd have to look at how we begin to enforce those motorists who continue to disregard the law."
