 |
| Road shows border between Ambergris Caye, Belize and Bacalar Chico, Mexico. |
Belize and Mexico have reached general agreement on their intention to build a road that will link San Pedro, the capital of Ambergris Caye, with Xcalac, the neighbouring Mexican coastal town on the other side of a small stretch of sea.
The paved, two-lane road is to be financed entirely by the Mexican government, according to a reliable Embassy source, and is to run, in the first phase of its construction, from San Pedro to Bacalar Chico, a community on the Mexican border on Ambergris Caye. The Mexican government will also install an Immigration/Customs checkpoint there.
Belize and Mexico have also agreed on a scheduled water taxi to link San Pedro, Xcalac and chetumal, to be operated by the San Pedro/Belize Water Taxi Express, a Belizean enterprise.
Letters of intent giving formal recognition to these two projects were signed Monday by Belize’s Minister of Tourism, Manuel Heredia, and the Mayor of chetumal, His Honour, Andres Ruíz Morcillo, and between Minister Heredia and Mexican officials Sr. Armando Alvarez Gonzalez, Under-Secretary of Tourism for the State of Qunitana Roo, Sr. Javier Zetina-Gonzalez, Director of the Port Authority for the State of Quintana Roo and Ambassador Luis Manuel Lopez-Moreno, Mexico’s idefatigable diplomatic representative to Belize.
The water taxi service will begin almost immediately, and on Monday Mexican Officials boarded a boat which showed them the route from chetumal to Xcalac to San Pedro.
Minister Heredia took his guests to Sarteneja, a resort and fishing village on the northern coast of Corozal where they had lunch and signed the second letter of intent.
 |
| Custom dock in chetumal will be a stop on the water taxi route. |
The water taxi will be a blessing for the people of Xcalac, who will now have easy access to chetumal and to San Pedro. Tourists and others in Mahahual, many of whom arrive by cruise ship, already have road access to Ixcalac, and chetumal, but will now find it a lot easier to visit chetumal and San Pedro through this sea link.
Mayor Ruiz Morcillo pointed out that communities on both sides of the border still share family ties, though now separated by political frontiers. The projected bilateral initiatives should bring about greater unity and cooperation, he said.
The land link to Ixcalac is something San Pedranos have dreamed of for more than half a century. Now that the northern sector of Ambergris Caye is bustling with development, it is believed the road project, which at this stage is just a plan, will quickly become a reality.
The purpose of the letter of intent is to boost the tourism industry in the chetumal Bay area - a coastal tourist nucleus in the making involving Sarteneja, and San Pedro for Belize, Xcalác and Mahahual, Tulúm and Cancún for Mexico.
By the first agreement. Mexico and Belize will also seek to connect San Pedro and Xcalac by road.
Xcalac, Mahahual and chetumal are already connected by road. Adding San Pedro to the mix will mean that tourists in Tulúm and Cancün will be able to visit San Pedro by a road link through Xcalac. From San Pedro the can fly to any part of Belize they choose .
Belizeans will also be able to travel easily to San Pedro and from San Pedro by sea to chetumal. With adequate scheduling this can be accomplished in less time than by autobus, but at a higher cost.
The Mexican Embassy in Belize made the announcement about the road and the new sea link last Monday in Bemopan.
Print
