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Jules Vasquez

"What make you select them and was it put out to tender?"

Darrell Bradley - Mayor of Belize City

"This wasn't put out to tender. With this project we have been working with a particular contractor to kind of develop the scope of the work including what we want to do in relation to Cindarella Plaza and working with the utility companies for about 8 months; so that this isn't something that we are just kind of thinking about. Usually when we do sole source procurement it's because we have a relationship with that particular contractor and they are working in the development phase of the contract. Again when we do the monitoring of this, we have our works team who will cross reference in terms of the pricing and so forth; but we are satisfied in relation to the quality and RJB has done probably about a third of our concreting streets so far."

"In relation to RJB, the only difficulties we had with them as you mentioned in terms of some cracking works on Chetumal Street. What you did also mention is that immediately when there have been recognition of deterioration in works, we engage with the contractor and they fix the works immediately at their own cost and this what we've done with all the contractors."

Jules Vasquez

"So even though RJB has glaring issues?"

Darrell Bradley - Mayor of Belize City

"I wouldn't say that, I think that a misstatement of truth. I think it is a misrepresentation to say that you're going to get a perfect pour. The real test of the project is that when there is any kind of concern of problem raised is that our engineers our internal engineers are able to check it right away."

Jules Vasquez

"Sir perhaps we are not seeing the world in the same way. Yes we don't agree but I am saying right now, Chetumal Street is cracked even though it was cracked immediately after they paved it. They fixed it and it's cracked again."

Darrell Bradley - Mayor of Belize City

"Because that was one of the earlier streets that we did, that street is about 3 years old, that street is going to be there. I wouldn't say that as a point of argument. The street is going to be there and I'm not a technical person."

Jules Vasquez

"The fact is the city council doesn't have an engineer in the department sir. You don't have a qualified engineer on staff so people can give you anything because you really don't have any way to check it, you don't have the infrastructural core to oversee the paving of 150 streets or even 100 streets."

Darrell Bradley - Mayor of Belize City

"I will divide in terms of your position there. I will agree with you though and we've been looking at this, that the technical capacity of the municipality needs to increase. We need more engineers, we need more technical personnel to be able to maintain and supervise works appropriately but I would not agree with you to say that people give us anything and we just take it. We do have capacity; we need to improve that capacity."