And while we did get a chance to ask Espat about why he wasn't invited to the tour of the Belcan Bridge with the Taiwanese Foreign Minister, we didn't get to ask him about the San Pedro General Hospital.

Jules Vasquez found that even though he wasn't there was still there-sorta:

Minister of Infrastructure Development Julius Espat was snubbed for the tour of the Belcan Bridge with the Taiwanese Foreign Minister yesterday - and we also didn't see him in San Pedro at the tour of the town's new General Hospital. But in a sense he was there, or his company was at least.

These are the pans for the hospital, and they are prepared by Strukture architects which is Espat's architecture firm.

We wondered how this squared with what he told us via text in 2021, quote, "My private firm does not have nor intends to get contracts from the Government of Belize. We have not done so for over 15 years."

This is a public project, but today he told us that the firm was not in fact contracted by government, it was contracted by the local subcontractor - which was hired by the main contractors, Taiwan's Overseas Engineering and Construction Company, known as the OECC. He says because of this it does not constitute being contracted by government - Struckture's contract is with the subcontractor - which also pays it. Espat says that he currently does not participate in anything with the firm - and will only return to it after he is finished with politics.

Espat adds that the local contractor has subcontracted a number of local firms for a range of construction services.