| The Belize City Council has signed an almost million-dollar contract with K&M Construction, owned by Maria Estella Recinos, for the renovation of two city streets.
The contract was never put out to public tender, and the decision to contract K&M never went to the council caucus.
There are two contracts for a total of $938,000 for the upgrading and concreting of the section of Neal Pen Road extending from its intersection with Central American Boulevard to its intersection with Krall Road, and Queen Charlotte Street from Yarborough Bridge to the Fabers Road intersection.
That's the information which was leaked to us-and the council has never announced or confirmed it.
But yesterday the Mayor breezed it off, characterizing them as "wonderful" contracts with a liquid contractor:
Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor
"Those are two wonderful projects that people in that area-and that's in Penn Road and in Fabers Road-will enjoy finally that they have concrete roads, both Penn Road and Fabers Road. But of course, we always look to talk to... at City Hall, we have many vendors, right? And it is important to note that many of those vendors that we engage are done so in a sort of... a deferred payment structure, where they frontload many of the funding to drive the development, to drive the concreting on the streets. And so while you may see it, all right, it didn't go out to tender, the mere fact that these contractors that we engage has to have the financial capacity, has to have the technical capacity for us to engage... we will not send out a tender where we are looking for vendors who... who have that frontload money to really drive those projects ahead, because most of the time we are paying on an incremental basis."
Reporter:
"So is that to say then that this specific vendor does have the capacity and you all did your homework?"
Bernard Wagner:
"Yes. She... yes, definitely. Definitely. And she has been doing business with us for many, many years-not only the Belize City Council or PUP administration, but with previous administration."
Reporter:
"Is there a reason why it was almost $1 million?"
Bernard Wagner:
"It's the cost of the street. You will have to check with my engineer or my engineers. They are the ones that really vet those applications for us and really tell us, 'Mayor, this is a technically feasible project, you can proceed with it.' I think the advice from my engineers..."
Recinos was also contracted to install street lights in Belmopan-a contract which the Mayor there has refused to comment on.
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