And in another move - that's just in time for elections - we today found Works Minister Boots Martinez looking on as the approaches to the bridge across South Creek in Belize city were paved.
We've been closely following the progress of work on this bridge for months. It's been slow going, and work had stalled for a while - when it looked like engineers were trying to figure out how to make the streets meet the elevated bridge.
But they did, and now the entire area has been nicely upgraded. We got a look at the works today.
Hon. Boots Martinez, Minister of Works
"We are doing the final preparation for the approach for the bridge on both sides from South Creek, Ramsey Street, North Creek and Seagull Street."
Jules Vasquez
"This bridge - some people make propaganda out of it. Certainly we in the media have been pressuring all to finish up with it. It is accomplished."
Hon. Boots Martinez
"Well like what I always explain to people, even as I am the Minister I am no engineer. So seeing things on face value might not be what the final product might be. And especially this bridge is for the People's United Party and "Bullit" who have been making "ads" out of it and not understanding that this is an engineering aspect and what needs to be done."
Jules Vasquez
"How would you answer the criticism that you all had to revamp the entire area because the bridge was so mismatch for the setting it was in that you had to change the whole drainage, change the whole street and change everything."
Hon. Boots Martinez
"The main thing was that you need to work with the logistics of what existed. For you to make that bridge a vehicular bridge, you had to change the logistic of the area. Remember it was just a pedestrian bridge. So for you to make it into a vehicular traffic bridge you had to change the whole logistics of the whole area."
Jules Vasquez
"But for a while there you all didn't look like you knew what you were doing because the bridge seems too big."
Hon. Boots Martinez
"It's not because it seem too big. The bridge was made to facilitate both vehicular and pedestrian. So it's not like it looks like we didn't know what we were doing, look at the final product."
Jules Vasquez
"It took a little while though."
Hon. Boots Martinez
"Yes everything takes a little while."
Jules Vasquez
"Everything with the Ministry of Works seems to take a little while."
Hon. Boots Martinez
"No man. How you mean everything with the Ministry of Works seems to take a little while. We have been delivering on a consistent basis. He who fails to prepare must prepare to fail."
Martinez says that work on the much complained about Jane Usher Boulevard should start by the end of this month.
And Neal's Pen Road, he promises, is set for February.
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