($1.8M drainage project to be launched)
Although Mayor Darrell Bradley has been applauded for the unprecedented achievement of cementing over 100 streets within the span of approximately a year, many city residents – drivers in particular – continue to complain about the several broken streets which remain unattended, sometimes with monstrous potholes which get even larger during the rainy season.
Today, the Mayor informed us that the current street works are near completion, and explained that the City Council will soon be addressing some drainage issues as well. Bradley stated, “We have not yet completed the 102 streets, but right now we are working on the remaining streets. We will be able to complete payment for those 102 streets with the Municipal Bond. We are at the 100-street marker. I did several inspections in terms of our continuing works and we’re doing fairly well with that project. We did Madam Liz Avenue – that was one of the last ones we completed; we did Watermelon and Woodpecker streets, Alexandria street, Baghdad Street, Mosul Street. We did the first part of Vernon Street, which was very bad, and eventually we’re going to do the entire length of Vernon Street; we’re finishing up Dean Street; we finished Juliet Soberanis Street; we also finished Park Avenue, Pike Crescent and we want to do Buttonwood Bay Boulevard, but that is very expensive, so we’re working with additional funding sources.”
Though numerous streets have been repaired, drainage continues to be a problem, mainly due to lack of maintenance. The Mayor affirmed that they will be dealing with those concerns shortly. Bradley said, “We’re spending 1.8 million dollars right now on a drainage project. CISCO Construction will be doing that, and they will be employing 200 people over a 3-month period. They will be working on 21 streets that have been identified and which we’ve signed contracts with them for – they will put drains along those streets, including culverts and walkways for people.”
He also gave an update with regards to other current street works. “We’re working on 20 streets both on the Northside and Southside. We are [also] reviewing additional projects. We’re going out to patch streets, but we know that rain will wash it out eventually. However, we are trying to respond as best as we can, given budgetary limitations, and given the fact that the infrastructures in Belize City are old. We took a major beating in terms of the recent rains and we’re trying to respond as quickly as possible. I know it’s not a comfort to members of the public who have streets that are very atrocious, but we’re trying to do what we can because it’s going to cost money and it will take some time.”
Bradley declared that since they have spent the bond proceeds on the 100 streets, they must now find other sources of funding to continue infrastructure works. Three ways in which the Council will be doing that is by stepping up revenue collection at City Hall, by eventually terminating one of their garbage contracts and by enforcing legislature that will ensure that council revenues are spent solely on infrastructure.
The Mayor announced, “We want to require by law that a certain amount of City Council funds have to be spent on street construction and street maintenance. What we will do is to create legislation that will say that all traffic revenues need to be paid into an infrastructure fund, and it has to be used non-discretionary for street construction and street maintenance. What that will do is to force future City Councils to pay attention to the infrastructure, so every year a minimum of $4 million will be spent on streets, which will be hugely impactful. Another good thing is that in October of this year, we will be paying off the first tranche of the [Municipal] bond, and that will allow us an ease in cash flow.”
In January 2015, the $78,000 weekly BML contract – which sucks up 25% of CITCO’s annual revenues – will expire, which the Mayor says will translate into savings of up to $4 million per year.