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Photo: The Honourable Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health and Wellness
The Ministry of Health and Wellness stuck to the guidance of its technocrats who recommended the new site for the University of Belize Teaching Hospital, citing its convenient transportation
byMarco Lopez
Belize City, Monday, August 26, 2024
In a press release today, the Government of Belize cited poor access and inadequate infrastructure as the main reasons for the decision not to build a new university hospital on land provided by the University of Belize. The public and civil society have been demanding answers from the government since news broke of its decision to purchase another plot of land at nearly 10 times the original price paid by the private landowner.
The Minister of Health and Wellness, the Honourable Kevin Bernard, in a rare press conference today, sought to clarify the protest that took place in Belmopan last Friday (August 23). The original agreement between the Government of Belize and the Saudi Fund for Development (which provided a $45 million loan for the project) stipulated that the project would be carried out on land donated by Belize.
However, a technical assessment and a site visit by a Ministry of Health and Welfare working group revealed that construction at the originally proposed site would limit access to emergency care and present other problems.
According to the Master Schedule, the property in question is also a flood prone area with a creek running through the property. In addition to this, the Belize Water Authority determined that installing the necessary infrastructure to obtain water service would cost over $2 million.
At its core, Bernard said, the issue comes down to location. If the hospital were built at UB’s proposed location, he said, employees and patients would have to commute six miles longer.
According to the minister, both the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Health and Wellness were responsible for identifying the new site. Bernard said the government eventually selected two plots of land on the roadside that were unsecured and easily accessible.
The two plots of land are owned by Kenny Zheng and Annie Zhu, an Asian couple from San Andres, Corozal town, who bought them in 2018 for $610,000.
Land Commissioner Talbert Brackett said when the Department of Natural Resources appraised the land, it assessed its value at $6.2 million.
Brackett explained in detail how the cost of the property arrived at the $6.9 million purchase price paid by the government. He said the two lots had been subdivided so he had to use the residual value method to value the property. Brackett put the value of each lot within the two subdivided lots at $116,000, a conservative value he compared to other lot values in the area.
He then explained that the gross development value is determined by multiplying the value ($116,000) by the number of lots in the subdivision. Brackett said they then subtract the cost of roads, surveys and any other development to arrive at the assessment number.
As mentioned above, this is how the government arrived at the $6.2 million; however, the landowners themselves valued the land and put the value at $9.3 million.
“The Department of Natural Resources valued it at $6.2 million, while the owner valued it at $9.3 million, and the owner eventually agreed to $6.9 million,” Minister Bernard told reporters. He revealed that the amount was paid to the owner in three installments over the past three months.
As for the environmental conditions at the new hospital site, some have suggested that there is a sewage treatment pond nearby that could be harmful to the environment, but both the ministry and Belize Water Company technicians have stated that due to the plant’s proximity to the hospital, it will not have an adverse impact on public health.
Both London’s Public Health Service and the Department of Health and Wellness have downplayed complaints about the stench in the area, with some even suggesting the stench could be caused by other facilities in the area.
As for how to mitigate potential flooding and spills that could inundate and contaminate the entire area, BWS Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Keshwani said he believes geotextiles and a layer of clay could prevent spills, while gates have been designed into the treatment facility to prevent water levels from becoming dangerous.
The technical report that led to the decision to move the university hospital from its original site was set out in a Cabinet document and is therefore confidential and not available to the public.
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