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Government has finalized the acquisition of the former Bottom Dalla property on North Front Street in Belize City, clearing the way for the major Swing Bridge replacement project in the downtown area. The five-million-dollar deal, which was completed earlier this month, involves the purchase of the waterfront property stretching from the foot of the Swing Bridge to just before the Prosser property. Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Evondale Moody, confirmed the purchase and explained that acquiring the land proved to be the more practical and cost-effective option when compared to relocating critical sewer infrastructure owned by Belize Water Services. Moody said the sewer line would have posed a major obstacle to the planned bridge connection between Hyde’s Lane and Regent Street West.
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH: “There’s an easement that is located between Prosser and Bottom Dalla parking lot. And within that easement we were informed by BWS that they have a sewer main and a water main that would be directly in the path of the bridge that we want to build. And so we had to find other means to relocate the bridge so that we don’t damage that line because that’s a major sewer line feeding north and south side. In discussions with BWS, they wanted $3 million for us to relocate that line. So we thought that that was a bit expensive and in addition to that, it would take us approximately six to eight months, I believe, for them to move that line. Based on the grant agreement that we have with JICA, we have to complete the temporary bridge at Hyde’s Lane by September, and we have to commence the removal of the Swing Bridge by September to be completed by December 2026 in an effort to have that space available for the Japanese contractor who is expected to arrive in the country in January 2027. So the timeline that we have, if we wanted to relocate that line would be too long. And so we had the option to either acquire a portion of the Bottom Dalla property or to look at the acquisition of the entire three properties because basically Bottom Dalla has three properties. They have the parking lot, they have the Bottom Dalla building and then they have the old distributors building where Swami’s used to be. And so under the project we’re supposed to provide storage space for the Japanese as part of the grant agreement and we’re also supposed to provide office space for the Japanese contractor which is our counterpart contribution for the project because remember that the project is being financed by Japan through a grant. So the government is just playing a smaller role in the provision of these items.”
Chief Engineer Moody further revealed that negotiations over the property took several rounds before an agreement was reached. According to him, the initial asking price for the land stood at eight million Belize dollars before government successfully negotiated it down.
Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, MIDH: “The initial estimate and offer that we received from them was for 8 million. We did our own valuation to determine the value of the land based on current market sales and so we were able to agree with them to a cost of $5 million for the acquisition of the three properties, which falls within roughly the valuation that we attained for that area. So we were able to reduce that cost to $5 million. So within the agreement we had $1 million that we are supposed to use within the grant agreement for the office space for the Japanese contractor. And so we said, instead of spending $3 million to relocate the pipe, let’s use those funds to just acquire the property. And so we would only be short of one million because we would have three that we wouldn’t use to relocate the pipe. We already have one in the grant agreement so we only need one more million dollars for us to acquire all three properties and that entire area would become property for the Government of Belize and so that was what we did. We concluded that that sales agreement about a week, a week and a half ago with the owners and so the government now has possession of that three lots and we are using those lots now for the construction of the temporary structure and then we would use it for the Japanese when they come into the country. We will have to demolish the old distributor’s building because we will need that space for storage which is beside the swing bridge and so that would be ideal for the contractor to mobilize and do whatever he needs to do in terms of construction activities for the new Swing Bridge.”
The acquisition is part of the preparatory works for the Swing Bridge replacement. Come January, the Japanese contractors are expected to arrive for a second phase of the project./
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