During the Budget debate over the course of two days, the People’s United Party went on an all out attack on the government’s infrastructure initiatives. In particular they attacked the UDP’s investment in the paving of the Caracol and Coastal Highways. They went to great lengths to try to discredit the government’s initiatives. Listening to them it would seem as if these roads were of no use to the Belizean people, in fact it would have seemed as if even the PUP had never had interest on the roads.
When the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow rose to respond on the closing of the debate, he reminded all and sundry that the PUP had actually spent over $20 million dollars on those roads and the impact on the lives of the users was next to none. PM Barrow delved into the archives of channel 5 and pulled out some quite interesting data that dated back to the first year of the last term the PUP was in office.
PM Barrow reminded us that in 1998, shortly after being elected into office, the PUP paid $4 million for the design of the Caracol road. Of course, we have no idea where that design is; nonetheless 4 million was spent. Then, in February of 1999, the then Prime Minister Said Musa had a meeting with an IDB delegation to whom he emphasized that that the Caracol road was of the “highest infrastructural priority.”
On December 16, 2003 again, the PUP signed a contract of $5.1 million which was financed by the IDB and Taiwan to improve a small portion of the Caracol road amounting to six miles as we as the paving of an additional 9.3 miles. Of course, anyone who has travelled to Caracol knows that those projects had little impact on travel time to the Mayan site.
PM Barrow then enumerated that millions were also spent on various designs for the Coastal Road. In July 2001, a contract was signed to upgrade the first mile of the road and the installation of culverts between Miles 4 and 28.
All told, between 1998 to 2003 in excess of $20 million dollars were spent on designs and preliminary improvements to the Coastal and Caracol Roads, which to this day have yet to yield any significant benefits to Belizeans.
After he highlighted the PUP’s failure to significantly improve the roads, the PM noted that, “the whole country ready fu Caracol.” He explained that Caracol is bigger than Tikal yet sees far less visitors that that site, which is in Guatemala. He noted that from San Ignacio to Caracol there are 51 miles yet it takes two and a half hours to visit that site. Comparably, PM Barrow cited that Tikal is significantly further yet it takes the same amount of time to get there. “We are running out of space in sea and sand spaces,” he said, and Caracol is now necessary as it will outcompete Tikal in Guatemala and Tulum in Mexico. When the road is complete, he said it will have a significant spinoff effect into multiple aspects across the economy.
The Coastal Road as well, he said, will connect Dangriga to the commercial centers and will open up thousands of acres of farm lands. He concluded that the development of the two roads has been a desire of both governments.
