The Belcan Bridge in Belize City is targeted for replacement sometime soon. The 55 year old bridge has developed major structural deficiencies and replacing it will be a major engineering feat.
Now, historically, bridges and roads are the exclusive, sole and unquestioned domain of the Ministry of Works, which is now called the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing.
And, they're the ones who put out the request for bids to replace the bridge. But 7news has confirmed with industry sources that the tendering process has been abruptly cancelled and sent over to the Ministry of Finance.
Here's what the Minister for MIDH told us about the Belcan in July and October:
Hon. Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure and Development
"We did a feasibility study on the Belcan, we did one on the Belchina and we did one on Swing Bridge. The most urgent in need of the three is the Belcan Bridge because that has suffered some structural damage to the pillars."
Hon. Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure and Development
"We are not sure if it will be done through the City Council of Belize or MIDH. The Ministry of Finance will make that final determination. But it's on the table. Belcan is the one I'm speaking of. The Belcan is at the point of the Ministry of Finance deciding if it will be executed by the City Council of Belize or if it will be executed by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development."
"We have done everything to put the technical information on it, meaning the design has been done already and everything is set."
Jules Vasquez
"That's not even a question, it's well established by both convention and fact that MIDH is responsible for the highways and the road between the highways which is the Central American Boulevard."
Hon. Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure and Development
"The Ministry of Finance at the end of the day makes a decision we follow. We are only service providers."
But, he might not be a happy servant. Unofficial Reports reaching us suggest that Espat and the team at the MIDH did not take kindly to questions from the Ministry of Finance - which had some concerns about how the bids were going out - and started asking MIDH some questions.
There are also grumblings in the industry that key figures at the Ministry of Finance may have a vested interest in seeing the bidding be opened to some companies that did not pre-qualify at the MIDH - so that remains a source of disquiet. We'll keep following it.
