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GOB Balks At Li Mark’s Asking Price For Chon Saan Bldg
posted (January 13, 2017)
And one more matter which came to the House floor today was the issue of whether government had moved ahead to purchase the Chon Saan building in Belmopan as the new Headquarters for the Immigration Department. The question came from an opposition member to the Prime Minister. As we reported one month ago, it was all both a done deal, and the Ministry of Finance was in the final stages of negotiation. But as they say, there's many a slip between the cup and lip, and it seems this sale slipped down because the seller, Li Mark Chang is asking for too high a price:...

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"The owners of Chon Saan did approached government with an offer to sell its building. Government has not agree to do so, because principally the asking price from the owners of the property is too much. What we did, as I said we did have an interest because of the urgency of the needs of the Immigration Department, we got an independent professional valuer to do a valuation and the valuation that he came up with is something like $300,000 plus dollars less than the asking price from the owners from Chon Saan. Except they would be prepared to sell for the price that the valuer has come up with, there will be no purchase. I am never going to have government pay a money for premises from anybody at a rate that the professional say would be excessive."

The PM stressed that the Immigration Department is very much in need of a new building because the old one is decrepit, leaks, and has mold. The US has promised to gift a new passport machine - but will not do so once the Department is housed in the old building.

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