And while the More Tomorrow Road is getting a facelift, so is the National Assembly. Plans have been put in place since May to renovate it for the first time in 54 years. But that work will take a year, and in the meantime House and Senate Meetings will have to continue. So, starting tomorrow, they will be temporarily held at the George Price Center For Peace and Development. The space was upgraded to replicate - as much as possible - the House chambers, and today the media got a tour ahead of tomorrow's meeting. The Speaker explained that the National Assembly will be renovated to be more modern and accessible.

Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House
"There is an urgent need for renovation. And in addition to that, to make it contemporary, modern and also accessible. If you recall earlier this year, not too long ago, there was a passage of the disabilities bill which which was made into law. And that was a very clear and glaring example that our legislature, even though it speaks to the House of Representatives and it is the People's House of Representatives, is simply not accessible."

"It is not accessible by members of the public who have mobility issues and quite frankly, by members of Parliament as well as staff and may have mobility issues and and media as well. So that was also an urgent need to do that. It fosters inclusion as well. Having assessed the building, the technical personnel, the engineers, there's a major issue with the roof of the National Assembly, which again hasn't been attended to for all these decades."

"So for all these reasons there was a need. So we looked around Belmopan to see where we could temporarily relocate and the George Price, Center for Peace and Development was one of the options and the one that stood out. So we worked with the board of the George Price Center for Peace and Development, and thanks to their accommodation and to the excellent work of the engineers architects over at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development and Housing, we are now able to hold a House meeting that will House and of course, Senate meetings afterwards that will be in a chamber that replicates that of the legislature is functional."

"As for standing orders, the sacrifice we had to make is we don't have public gallery. So that will take on a case by case basis. And the only option, quite frankly, to have persons present for the public gallery would be housing them under a tent outside with a big screen. But we're we're taking this on a case by case basis."

Reporter:
"The House meeting tomorrow is our first real test run. And the timeline for when we return, you said is a year. So what can we expect the National Assembly will look like in that year?"

Valerie Woods, Speaker of the House
"Improved, modern, contemporary, accessible. There should be no leaky roofs. The acoustics should be better. We are actually contemplating a possible solar project with the government of India who has offered so graciously."

"But we are in the early stages of discussion for that."

The meeting will still be livestreamed and you can see it on Channel 7.