As you heard, the council has had to focus its attention on some of the 200+ streets that the Bradley Administration had cemented using the Municipal Bond proceeds.
We've seen a few of them, including a section of Orange Street, that certainly have not withstood the test of time. The wear and tear has caused some of these concrete streets to deteriorate a lot faster than was expected, and so, the council has been trying to mitigate, and - where possible - reverse the damage.
The Deputy Mayor said that this unforeseen task will keep the council busy for a while more:
Oscar Arnold, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
"I yet have to see where the contractors guaranteed longevity. I think it was a councilor member who said that these streets should last about thirty years. There were some structural problems; there wasn't or we haven't been able to find where there was minimum standards that were given out to different contractors. So what you find is that some streets are holding up very good while some other ones are deteriorating very fast and again that is because there were no minimum standards that were given to different contractors who got different streets. Under the previous council, I was made to understand that whenever a contract was issued, there was a portion that was held back. Those have been used to rehabilitate streets that were torn up even prior to us taking office. We are looking at the ones that are deteriorating and we are trying to do remedial work to get those to stop and not deteriorate any further. There have been instances where a street was pretty much concreted and put down and no consideration was given that the drain had to run across so that it could empty either out into one of the canals or into the river or something like that. So those had to be cut out and put in and those will be covered and resurface as well with concrete. But the concern is there and we ask residents as well as the media if you see areas where you see needs some little TLC, let us know and our works group will get on it."
Email
Print