Belize Signs $3.2 Million Contract for Design of New Teaching Hospital in Belmopan

The Government of Belize and a Saudi company signed a 3.2 million Belize dollar contract today for the design and supervision of the new tertiary-level teaching hospital in Belmopan. This morning, the government and Dar Al Omran International Engineering Consulting Company (DAO) inked a contract toward the realization of the hospital’s construction. Under the agreement, the DAO, a leading firm specializing in healthcare infrastructure, will provide architectural and engineering design services for a 150-bed hospital. Last year, the government signed a US $45-million loan for the hospital with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And, according to Nurse Lizett Bell, Deputy Director of Hospital Services, under the agreement, the government was required to hire a Saudi firm to complete the design.

Nurse Lizett Bell, Deputy Director of Hospital Services, MOHW: “This particular firm was selected out of a competitive bidding process out of five firms that applied for this particular tender, which was for the design and supervision. The process for this particular contract is for approximately nine months and it looks at the actual design of the entire hospital and support services and auxiliary services, as well as the firm will also be responsible to supervise the works or the construction firm that will be actually building the facility. So that’s the reason why it’s a design and supervision contract. So what occurred that we advertise for the design and supervision, and as per the loan agreement one of the requirements was that the firm had to be from a Saudi Firm. And so it was advertised and we had five applicants who submitted it. We reviewed the bids and this particular firm was the one who was selected based on various things like their experience, their expertise. This particular firm have over I think 40 something years of doing designs and they have their specialty in designing of medical facilities. So they met the criteria and the different requirements as the terms of reference for the procurement of the design and supervision. And so they were selected.”

The ministry says the project is part of the government’s 2023-2026 Medium Term Strategy to enhance social protection, aiming to improve healthcare access for the country’s poorest communities.