Julius Espat Weighs in on Controversial Belmopan Land Acquisition

Minister of Infrastructure Development, Julius Espat, was asked to weigh in on the recent land acquisition in Belmopan.  His input is deemed important as he has always been an advocate for conscious spending.

Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing: “Was negotiated with the Ministry of Economic Development so we were informed of that. We knew that a hospital would be built and we knew that it would be on the UB property so that is what Cabinet knew. Then the Ministry of Health lobbied for a presentation to be made in Cabinet where it was a couple doctors came in led by Ms.Diaz and they made a plea that they didn’t believe that it was feasible for them from their point of view to have it at the back of Belmopan. And so that’s where the lobby started and then we found out that the Ministry of Economic Development took that lobby serious and then they looked for possible locations and they found one. Last Cabinet the deputy informed us that they were working with the Ministry of Natural Resources with their evaluators along with private evaluators to be able to come up with a number and that’s how it was derived. Every option has positives and negatives, that’s just what it is. I’m an architect so when we build you look at all options. UB could have been a good option with time it would have, we haven’t looked at it from our ministry in detail but it would have meant that you would have to spend $6 million or maybe more in infrastructure to reach the hospital. That could be good because then other people would benefit from the infrastructure going in so that’s a positive thing for that side but the expediency of having the hospital being build we would have taken maybe a two three years to get that project underway and so I think speaking with the Saudis they wanted it now and so that’s where the option came about. It is in a flood prone zone I think the deputy said it well, Belize is in a flood prone zone and that if you have it there and the road floods you won’t have the ability to take your patients to Belize City well if you have it in Belmopan and you have a flood the same thing will happen because it’s the main highway. We know of the flooding areas and we have started to address it. I think Plus TV knows it more than the other media they’re in Belmopan they saw that we are working on the J&W Bridge already with is the first phase of making that area have free flow of water. So that bridge is about I would say about 75% completed and then we have a project called the George Price Rehabilitation Project that is on the Ministry of Finance’s desk and that one incorporates bridges in the Mount Pleasant area that will also alleviate that area so with time we will address all those issues. We recently addressed the one in Roaring Creek where after the road was built we noticed that there was a flooding that you couldn’t cross the Roaring Creek Bridge. We have already addressed that part of it already. Soon all proposals have their pros and cons and we have to look at it in detail and the job of the media is to dissect it and bring out the truth and I think that is what has been achieved and I think that’s positive.”

Espat affirmed that the land acquisition did not involve any special interest or shady deal.  The land acquired by government for this project is some 15 acres.