In March when the city council celebrated a year in office, one of the big plans it revealed was to transform and put a toll on that part of the northern highway between Belize City and the Haulover bridge. And while the mayor would have wished to start it, like, yesterday, 7NEWS has learned that the Ministry of Works put the brakes on the project? Why? Well, the highways entering Belize City and the Central American Boulevard for that matter are the responsibility of the Ministry of Works. The mayor told us its needless turf protection.
Darrell Bradley - Mayor of Belize City
"The Ministry of Works had expressed the original issue that always fell on the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works. We have maintained always that this is a street. The speed limit along this highway is still 25 miles because it comes within the jurisdiction of Belize City. We've indicated to them and I wish to restate the sentiment mentioned by the leader of Opposition that all sectors of our Government and all political parties need to come together. There should not be an issue over turf war between the municipality and the Ministry of Works."
Jules Vasquez
"But right now it's at a standstill because of the no-go of the Ministry of Works."
Darrell Bradley
"They have indicated to us their position that the Northern Highway - the stretch of the road - is under their jurisdiction and that they had indicated to us that we could meet and we could sit down. We could share with them our plans and they could share with us their plans but of course our main issue is to get the project started as soon as possible. Our projections puts this project at costing about $10m and it will require one year to be completed. I only have less than two years left in office and I would want this road completed before I leave office."
The mayor estimates that the project would cost ten million dollars and take a year to complete.
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