More than three years after this report was first scheduled for publication, a key public infrastructure project on Belize’s popular Caye Caulker island is back in motion. The $1.5 million planned police substation, which was sidelined for weeks amid public controversy, has received official confirmation that construction will resume, ending the uncertainty that has surrounded the development for months.
The facility is one component of the government of Belize’s broader $60 million Belize Integral Security Program, a national initiative designed to upgrade law enforcement infrastructure across the country. When completed, the new substation will offer far more functional and modern amenities than the island’s current outdated police facility, including a dedicated unit for responding to domestic violence cases, climate-controlled secure evidence storage, and confidential private interview rooms. These upgrades are designed to better serve both the island’s permanent resident population and the millions of international tourists that visit Caye Caulker each year.
Andre Perez, the elected Area Representative for Belize Rural South, made the official announcement confirming the project’s restart in late May 2026. During his statement, Perez addressed the public concerns that had delayed the project, acknowledging the community’s feedback while reaffirming that the designated parcel of land is legally reserved for government use specifically for the police station. He also pushed back against any suggestions of misallocation of funds for this project, noting that all allocated funding will be used exclusively for the construction of the substation as planned.
In a sharp critique of the previous national administration, Perez called public attention to a completed police housing project built by the prior government just two years before the most recent transfer of power. That initiative, he said, received $2 million in public funding to construct police barracks and living quarters, but the completed structure is now valued at less than $800,000, with widespread reports of poor construction quality. Perez noted that the current administration has no intention of repeating that costly mismanagement, and is committed to delivering a high-quality facility that meets the needs of Caye Caulker’s police force and community.
Addressing the public disagreement over the substation’s proposed location at the entrance of Caye Caulker’s main town, Perez acknowledged that some community members oppose the site, but stressed that the priority is delivering a functional, well-built facility that improves local law enforcement capacity, rather than repeating past mistakes of public fund mismanagement.
Oscar Mira, Belize’s Minister of Home Affairs, added that the new substation will deliver two core public benefits: it will drastically improve the day-to-day working conditions for officers stationed on the island, and it will boost overall public safety for both residents and the island’s large annual influx of visitors. This report is a transcribed excerpt from an evening television news broadcast, with all Kriol-language statements transcribed using a standardized spelling system for accessibility.