PM Briceño Says San Pedro Road is About Who Benefits, Not Who Builds  

Who is really benefiting from the proposed road development in northern Ambergris Caye? Residents are demanding answers about the contractor and the interests behind the project. But Prime Minister John Briceño insists the biggest beneficiaries will be ordinary Belizeans. He says the road will open access to one thousand government-issued residential lots, with another one thousand expected to follow, while easing pressure on an increasingly congested San Pedro. The Prime Minister argues this is about planning for growth, not paving the way for private interests. But critics are still demanding transparency.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“It has nothing to do about who’s behind it. It’s the government behind, the town council. We are– We have issued 1,000 lots more up north, and the only way you could get there to those lots is to be able to open the road. Who is going to open it? The, the people that got the raw lots, they’re already talking, “Hey, how can I get to my land?” And we are in the process of probably giving another thousand lots in the, in that area. But to get there, we have to build a road, and so that’s what we’re doing. Again, we are doing the work of the people. And what’s the use of giving you a piece of land and you can’t get to the land? Then you would then turn around and say you’re just taking me for a joke. You’re not taking me serious.” So we have to put in a road and it is a part of the master development plan for San Pedro, that we have to open a road going up north. Because the growth in San Pedro now is going north, because in the south side or the original San Pedro where the village started is already congested.”

 

Shane Williams

“So will the private sector put the money up front for the construction and government will pay?”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Not necessarily. It is something where we work through the town council, and then the town council come to us and say, “Okay, this is what the road is, what is cost.” We get the costings verified, and then we give it to the council who then pay the bills.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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