After a Fire, Three Hospitals are being Built on the Island

Roatan has found itself in a health crisis. On April 19, around 9pm, Roatan Public Hospital in Coxen Hole burned down in a spectacular fire. The fire destroyed 95% of the 33 year old building except for a portion of the office annex.
No one was killed or gravely injured in the fire and 60 interned patients were transferred to two nearby private island hospitals. Wood Medical Center in Coxen Hole received most of the patients and the private Hospital Centro Medico Sampedrano (CEMESA) received another dozen. “All the emergencies were attended until May 10 [for] free,” said Dr. Jackie Wood, owner of the Wood Medical Center who also helped to build the original public hospital in 1991. “My heart was broken and I cried all night. You do not imagine what I feel to see all that work [turn to] ashes.”
The firemen concluded that faulty electric wiring was the reason for the fire. “A couple years back we had a fire in a maternity room for the same reason,” said Dr. Wood.
The spring of 2024 has been full of fires breaking out all over Roatan. There has been very little rain since the rainy season ended on the island in March. Dry as bone trees and cohunes became prone to catching fire and strong winds made things especially difficult to handle.

While the fire was a disaster, it also became an opportunity to quickly and efficiently upgrade the islands hospital facilities. While the public hospital building was gone there were plenty of doctors, underutilized private clinics, a network of community clinics, a semi finished hospital in Dixon Cove, and there was an 18,000 square foot Adventist center.

Instead of quickly finishing the new public hospital in Dixon Cove, the central government decided to build a “temporary” hospital in Coxen Hole. Instead of using facilities that are available, the government set up tents in hot weather at Julio Galindo stadium in Coxen Hole.

“My heart was broken and I cried all night.”

Another site in Loma Linda area of Coxen Hole was chosen by the central government as a site for an emergency, provisional 40 bed hospital and is estimated to cost 100-150 Million Lps. It has been planned to be finished in 90 days, but due to a complicated, heavily sloped site, that is unlikely to happen.

The Loma Linda hospital site is adorned with a huge poster “Xiomara Sí Cumple,” – “Xiomara does deliver.” In fact after the fire and presidential visit the island was dotted with “Xiomara Sí Cumple” signs. There is one such poster at the Roatan international airport, one in Dixon Cove, one in Loma Linda and one at Coxen Hole stadium. A kilometer away, while central government authorities were erecting those signs, Roatan Municipality completely demolished the burned out hospital and practically flattened the old hospital site.

All in all, the facility that was closest to being able to function as a temporary hospital was the Adventist center in French Harbour. Little Friends Foundation along with Roatan Municipality operated the COVID center at the Adventist center back in 2020. While the second story of the large building was used for consultations and beds, the first story is being readied to function as an emergency center for the emergency temporary hospital before the provisional hospital is finished and before the new hospital in Dixon Cove is completed.

Six weeks after the fire things are far for clear for many islanders in need of medical attention and confusion still persisted. “The ambulances take you from the street and don’t even know where to take you,” said Steven Guillen, president of Little Friends Foundation, a NGO that was in charge of building the Dixon Cove hospital facility. “If you are dying, you have to go to CEMESA.”

In May a woman in labor was asked for money from treatment at Woods Medical Center, she didn’t have the funds, so she was transferred to CEMESA designated as an emergency care center. The transport she was using broke down and she was transferred to another vehicle. By the time she arrived at CEMESA it was too late and she died.

That could have been avoided. The Adventist center was ready to operate two weeks after the hospital fire. The current construction work on the hospital is being paid by the Roatan Municipality and donations. There is a blood testing center for TB and HIV being built as well.

For the time being, nurses and doctors are allocated to several centers around the island. While Roatan Municipality is financially and technically capable of building, even equipping a public hospital, it does not feel capable of running the hospital with accredited and paid staff – that is a step too far.

The history of the 20,000 square foot Roatan Public hospital goes back to 1991. According to Dr. Jackie Wood, it cost the government $7 million to build. It could have been much more, but many good willed people helped it along. “Equipment was donated from the United Kingdom government (…) donations from Roatan people and private companies from Roatan and La Ceiba and the central government,” said Dr. Wood.

The island outgrew the medical facility within a couple decades, but the road to the new public hospital has had been fret with hopes, mistakes, delays, and wishful thinking.

In 2006, after 15 years of the Roatan Hospital serving the public, then Mayor Dale Jackson decided that it was time to build a new hospital. Land in Dixon Cove was purchased as “an emergency purchase.” Eighteen years later that emergency still hasn’t been resolved.

The one million dollar land cost paid was an extremely high cost for the municipality. It took the next administration of Mayor Julio Galindo to pay off the purchase completely. There was nothing done during the Mayor Dorn Ebanks tenure.

While the fire was a disaster, it also became an opportunity.

When Jerry Hynds became mayor in 2018, he was able to secure a $2 million donation from Kelcy Warren, US billionaire and owner of RECO, for the construction of the hospital in Dixon Cove. “When the funds ran out the Municipality started using some of their own funds to complete the gray work. “The original discussions were that the Municipality would do the gray work and they would finish the hospital,” says Guillen. Windows, doors, some of the sewage and water infrastructure was also finished. Roatan municipality spent $500,000 and within a couple of years there was a large, 75,000 square foot two story building sitting on a hill in Dixon Cove.

In Honduras many things are accomplished when local and central government belong to the same political party, that was not the case with National Party in Tegus and Liberal party on Roatan. “ [Mayor] Jerry [Hynds] said: ‘If they [central government] are not going to join, we are going to finish it,” said Guillen. “He had it in his mind that he was going to finish it one way or another.”

In fact the construction of the new public hospital was a joint effort and not only Kelcy Warren’s donation and municipal tax dollars funded it. “May people donated freight, equipment time and helped to reduce costs,” said Guillen. While these donations were not enumerated by Little Friends Foundation, they likely run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In 2022 the 75,000 square foot Dixon Cove hospital building has been finished in raw state with windows and doors placed. The building sits on 8.3 acres site and there is a basement. Electric, sewer and gas lines could be installed as per requirement.

“There were verbal agreements, but never any written agreements with any administration,” said Guillen. Several visits by central government contracted engineers and architects took place. Recommendations were made, fulfilled, but nothing was put on paper and signed. “Every time the central government sent a crew of engineers they came up with a list of changes. Moving and creating walls, doors,” said Guillen.

The reality was that Roatan’s politicians were working with best intentions in a constantly evolving political climate back in Tegucigalpa. “The idea was to pass the facility into the hands of the Honduran health ministry in a raw state, and for them to finish it up to their standards,” said Guillen. According to Guillen the land title has been transferred to the national government years ago.

After Ximara Castro’s Libre Party won the national elections in November 2021 the relationship between Roatan Municipality and José Manuel Matheu, Honduran Health Minister under President Xiomara Castro, was going well. “We had a very good relationship with him. He brought in IDB [International Development Bank],” said Guillen. That all ended when in December 2023 Matheu was replaced with Carlos Aguilar. Since nothing was written down and agreed, Municipality was left holding the bag.

After the public hospital burned down a political turf war for credit as far as who is building what with whom’s money on Roatan intensified. It seems that Honduran president’s Libre Party was not willing to give credit to local authorities who are affiliated with the Liberal Party.

Then there was the bigger issue. If the new Roatan hospital was to be finishing with locally done contractors and donated equipment there would no way for big players to make money and make themselves seem indispensable. If local authorities would solve their own infrastructure and health problems, like Roatan has attempted, there would be no need for dependency on international loan institutions. That would mean 2000 bankers and bureaucrats in IDB Washington DC headquarters would lose their salaries, and that cannot be.

According to Honduran authorities $47 million dollars is now needed to finish the new hospital and equip it. The around $2.5 million spent on the building by Warren and Municipality is a rounding error of the estimated remaining costs. Now plenty of companies will have an opportunity to skim off the very high top and make money in the bonanza.

Roatan Municipality is financially and technically capable of building, even equipping a public hospital.

Local authorities say, that the building could be finished and equipped and ready to open for a fraction of that sum. “We could get all the equipment in very good condition donated,” said Guillen.

That is unlikely to happen. Since 2010 IDB has allocated 35% of its annual loan approval to “small and vulnerable” members and Honduras is qualified as one of them. IDB constantly needs new projects to allocate millions, and tens of millions of loans. Finding donors for a new public hospital is good business for IDB and good for its bottom line.

For average islanders worried about their health, the money, the funding and technical matters are too complicated to contemplate. Yet, the fact is there is money to be made loaning out money. There is plenty of money to be made in the construction of a new hospital and plenty of entities are eyeing the Roatan project.

It is the central government that decides what the municipalities need, often with a faulty understanding of population dynamics and local idiosyncrasies. This is how Roatan Island ended up with a Coxen Hole desalination plant and José Santos Guardiola with a garbage dump in Punta Blanca that never opened. These white elephants were paid from loans and grants by IDF and Inter American Development Bank. These projects are expensive and justify the existence of large international lending institutions.

The sad part is not only about the debt that is unnecessarily created, it is also that Honduras does need government investment in other parts of the country and is not getting it. One such example is the rebuilding of Canal Maya (In the Sula Valley, Mainland Honduras) that was destroyed in the 2020 Hurricane season, yet there are no funds and no one to rebuild it.

Other than IDB, another winner in this situation and all this chaos could be CEMESA. They have secured an agreement with government for treatment of patients. What is not known is how much CEMESA charges the government for these services. CEMESA prices are high, an appendix surgery can cost Lps.50,000 or more.

After the fire, a fund was set up out of which CEMESA is paid by Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finances. “CEMESA don’t have 11 million Lps. This in an insurance fund,” said Doctor Lastenia Cruz, Roatan Hospital Director, on May 29. “We are in front of CEMESA, we are meeting them constantly.”

There is a great contrast with how government and private business deal with a fire, and efficient restructuring. For example Waldina’s Tapestry shop, a private business that burned to the ground in French Harbour in February 29, 2024. With very few resources, but with much motivation, the owner was able to rebuild and reopen her upholstery and sail repair business within weeks of the fire. A great contrast to the paralysis and confusion of the central government after the Roatan hospital fire.

At the end of June there was no agreement what to call the French Harbour Adventist hospital facility. Some islanders still call it the Adventist Center, some call it Adventist Hospital, and some still call it the COVID Center.

Still the Adventist Center has been receiving plenty of non emergency patients. On May 27, Aldin Ebanks, a patient from Coxen Hole, went to Wood Clinic in Coxen Hole where he was told to go CEMESA. At CEMESA he was told to go to the Adventist center. All this took time, money, and transport expense. He was diagnosed with water in his lungs, and treated at the Adventist Center.

Roatan’s politicians were working with best intentions in a constantly evolving political climate.

The Adventist center is now open 24 hours a day and the number of specialists working at the Adventist center has been gradually increasing. “The Adventist center opening will cover all the services required by the population,” said Guillen. “They have greater capacity than the original public hospital.”

There is a plan to use both the downstairs and upstairs of the Adventist Center. The Municipal is making plans to turn the two story building into a fully functional hospital. The facility is actually larger than the original public hospital in Coxen Hole.“We are trying to centralize everything here,” said Guillen.

While the Adventist organization is letting the Honduran ministry of health use the facility without a written contract. Again, this could lead to misunderstandings and conflicts. Who pays for electricity costs, for maintenance costs, or for damages is not 100% clear. “They [central government] should work with the Municipality to set up this [Adventist Center],” said Guillen. “We don’t know how long they will be on temporary basis.”

Some consultation services were decentralized from the public hospital to community clinics outside of big towns. The recently opened clinic in Flowers Bay is picking up plenty of work.

The island’s medical situation will clear itself out in a matter of a year, or two. There is one question that remains and that is whether perhaps the central government and some international organizations, despite what they say and want you to believe, are not there to help you in the most sensible and efficient way, but to exploit your problems to the advantage on interest groups.

Many of us agree to pretend that police, health, education and emigration services are here to help. We are afraid to admit how inefficient, malevolent and expensive these government entities are. The cost of realizing that would be we would have to do something about it. It is easier just to go on pretending.

$47 million dollars is now needed to finish the new hospital.

Mexican Multinational Expands Roatan’s Cruise Ship Dock a mid Controversy and Exposes Island’s Double Standards

In 2018 ITM Group has purchased a majority stake in the Port of Roatan cruise ship terminal from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ITM begun work on second berth and has planes to open it at the end of 2019. IMT is expanding by 500% the area of attractions “adventure islands” with restaurants, aviary, rays, kayaking, for cruise ship passengers. An investment of around $30 million.

While the money are jobs are attractive to many, some see hidden dangers of the expansion. “The people are for dock expansion, but not for ‘Disney Land’ expansion they are doing,” says Aleynzka Grant Watler, Constellation bight resident. “We contacted SERNA in December and they still haven’t sent an inspector.” Indeed, the people of Roatan and Constellation Bight have been left in the dark. “We don’t know the shape, size positioning of the island,” said Lean about the Port of Roatan non-transparent filling in of land in Constellation Bight.

There are numerous concerns about the damage to the coral, change of tides and currents in Constellation Bight and closing of a public swimming beach. “SERNA should not have issued permit to remove the coral,” says Francis Lean, executive director of the Marine Park. Lean is not alone in seeing the double standard of life on Roatan. “Environmental concerns and agencies are only a front to control which projects get through and which ones don’t,” said Kaveh Lahijani, owner of Little French Key that employs 80 full time people. “There are far greater forces at play than proper permitting, processing and protection of natural resources and environment of Roatán.”

Cruise ship tourism boom of the last ten years has strained Roatan’s infrastructure to its limits.

Despite numerous requests by Paya Magazine, Port of Roatan management, nor ITM has not answered any questions regarding their port expansion. “The community is against the project,” says Lean, but “this is a done deal unless the community stands up against this right now.”

Locals indeed are speaking up, but no one is listening. “We don’t want this Disneyland,” says Alex Watler, the secretary of the Constellation Bight patronato. Watler feels the community has been sidelined, sacrifices for personal interests of politicians and big companies. “We contacted the governor, fiscalia, minister of tourism, Ministerio Publico, BICA. They didn’t even want to see us, or made empty promises,” says Watler.

Constellation Bight is beautiful bight, but the constant turning of giant cruise ship propellers has damaged much of the coral in the area. While the environment has suffered, people have made profit from property values and excursions offered nearby. Marco Galindo Sr., owner of Gumbalimba Park that caters to cruise shippers, says that the property values have already doubled and “Now they will multiply a thousand percent.”

Watler sees double standards in how islanders and big business like ITM are treated. “A man had three fish pots [traps] here [in Constellation Bight] and Marine Park came in so fast and confiscated the traps. But now when there is so much damage, they don’t do a thing,” says Watler.

“I even told Jerry [Roatan’s Mayor Jerry Hynds]: you guys are going little guys like Little French Cay [for their lack of environmental permit] but do nothing about the damage done here.” While Little French Cay, a tourist destination several miles away from the port, is a fraction of size of Port of Roatan it gathered wrath of Municipal and mainland government in form of inspections, raids and fines. “This area [Port of Roatan] would not be open to general local public and would only really benefit the foreign investors intending to keep the cruise ship passengers and their dollars within the confines of the port,” said about the Port of Roatan expansion Lahijani.

The second Port of Roatan dock is planned to accommodate larger, Oasis size cruise ships like the Allure of the Seas. “These cruise ships are the future,” says Marco Galindo Sr. about the megaship bringing not 3,000-4,000 passengers but 7,000.

Some other businessmen who operate out of the existing Port of Roatan dock also feel that bigger ships and more passengers will leave plenty of cruise-shippers to leave the port and spend money on their attractions on Roatan proper. “I employ 20 people and 20 families are dependent on the cruise ship tourist,” says Vidal Villeda, 53, who owns Chocolate factory stands in two Roatan cruise ship ports and a chocolate factory center in West End.

Villeda is renting a three meter by three-meter stand at the cruise ship dock for $100 a cruses ship day. Villeda says that his rent hasn’t gone up since the Mexican conglomerate took over the Port of Roatan except for the maintenance fee of $50 a month. ‘They are brining bigger boats,” Villeda says about the Mexican conglomerate. “The more cruise ship tourist will come the better.”

The uncontrolled cruise ship tourism boom of the last ten years has strained Roatan’s infrastructure to its limits, attracted tens-of-thousands of mainland labor migrants and caused environmental damage to reef and soil that is impossible to enumerate in dollars. “If we keep destroying trees, it’s a matter of time and we will be like Haiti,” says Galindo Sr. who remains pessimistic about the long-term growth of the island. “In 15-20 years’, time we will be charging islanders Lps. 500 to hug a tree.”

Roatan’s love affair with fast growth and cruise shippers doesn’t only end in Port of Roatan or Mahogany Bay. The Santos Guardiola is financing a study to find out the best location for a cruise ship terminal in New Port Royal. This would bring a third cruise ship terminal to the island. “Santos Guardiola has a lot to offer at the East End of the island,” says Galindo. “It’s going to happen. It [Roatan] will be a cruise ship island,” says Galindo.

Relying on only one industry for the sustainment of the island is like putting all one’s eggs in one basket. Twenty years ago, Roatan was an island with several industries: fishing industry, seafood packing industry, dive industry, construction industry and cruise ship was yet another industry. “If cruise ships leave, we will starve to death,” says Galindo Sr.

Sink boat at Tulum.

Dixon Cove Is Home To Two Most Photographs Wrecks In The Caribbean

Tulum rests in the channel entrance to Dixon Cove, the biggest tonnage harbor in Honduras, just a stone’s throw from Harris Stamp Cay, a hundred meters west of Mahogany Bay Cruise Ship Terminal, and two hundred meters from Galaxy Wave Ferry Terminal.

Tulum’s story goes back to 1979 when Roatan was a little known luscious green island.  Islander Luey McLaughlin was at work as one of the managers at Anthony’s Key Resort [AKR] when he spotted a vessel in distress. Tulum was on her way from Puerto Cortez to the Dominican Republic, she was loaded top to bottom with pine lumber and leaning heavy to her side. “The locals were jumping in, fishing out all the lumber that was floating,” says Julio Galindo, who was also an AKR manager at the time.

“I drove to Allan Hyde as he had a boat capable of towing such a big vessel,” said McLaughlin. There were no phones on the island and driving to deliver a message was the quickest way to communicate in a situation like this.

“She was leaning very heavy,” remembers Shawn Hyde who was a teenager at the time of the incident. Shawn is a son of Allan Hyde, who ended up salvaging Tulum. Capt. Denny Jones went out with one of Allan Hyde’s shrimp boats and towed Tulum to Coxen Hole harbor. There she remained for many months before being towed to French Harbour.

In the 1980s and 1990s most of the paint rusted away

Tulum’s cargo of Honduran pine lumber was unloaded in French Harbour and sold on the mainland. The money was put into an escrow account to pay for salvage and other claims. Some people say that the Tulum’s owners botched an insurance scam and that the captain just opened the wrong ballast valves.

“A bad storm was on its way and it was decided to tow Tulum to a safe harbor in Dixon Cove,” said McLaughlin. Back then Dixon Cove was a secluded place, filled with mangrove with almost no one living there. “There was nothing here, just mangroves.”  The towing operation got complicated and the boat drifted onto the reef. “The way she sunk caused no hazard as far as entrance to the harbor,” said McLaughlin. “The Honduran Naval came and discharged the bunker fuel in her tank.” Once the bunker fuel was drained the ship no longer caused a danger to the reef or waters.

A couple of years later, US Navy special forces came to see if it was worth it for them to practice salvage operations on Tulum. The early 1980s was the time of the Nicaraguan Contra war and the US military was running many covert operations out of Honduras. “The hull was already fractured and they decided against it,” said McLaughlin. Ultimately, the Navy Seals did  their training with a boat named Wendy that was floated from Coxen Hole and towed away into deep waters south of the island.

In the 1980s and 1990s most of the paint rusted away and by the early 2000s a hull was still visible and its metal crane still standing high. One could swim inside the hull like it was a gothic cathedral. The hull bent and collapsed under its own weight around 2006. “If people didn’t cut the hull up for scrap metal she would still be there,” said Shawn Hyde. A few times over the years locals boarded Tulum to salvage scrap metal for resale.

The strongest part of the ship, and the part most resistant to salt water, storms, and scavengers,  was the engine.  It remains intact, still visible to passengers entering Dixon Cove.

Ing. Gustavo Isnardi Jr. With machinery ready to begin road patching and construction.

Island Roads are Stressed to their Limits

Roatan never had a master plan for its road system. The island’s roads were never zoned and the current road system is the result of organic growth: occasional availability of funds; local and national politics; and access to construction equipment, spare parts and fuel. 

The 2017-18 rain season has brought a record rainfall to the island the road system has been put under tremendous stress. In the end however, the current situation is the result of tough, hilly terrain, proximity to the sea, poor original construction, and lack of regular road and culvert maintenance.

The very fact that Roatan is able to operate and in some areas thrive this massive challenge to its basic infrastructure points to the resilience of its people and businesses.

Across the Caribbean numerous islands including: Puerto Rico, Anguila, Barbuda, the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Dominica,, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic remain in recovery mode after the devastating effects of the 2017 storm  season. Hurricanes Maria & Irma alone cut a swath of destruction across roughly 30% of the region.

The Caribbean economy relies heavily on the 25 million tourists that visit the region each year. For those islands whose economies depend on tourism, this recovery will be long and expensive. Allen Chastanat, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia wrote: “Your visit to our islands is more important now than ever. By coming to the Caribbean you will be contributing to our assistance to our fellow islands who are still recovering.” Roughly 7 million tourists looking for an alternative Caribbean destination in 2018. The crisis in eastern Caribbean is Roatan’s opportunity. Once the road conditions are stabilized, Roatan could experience a boom as efficiency of doing business, and just going on about one’s life will improve.

While islanders and tourists are going about their business, everything has its limits. Jerry Hynds, sworn in as Roatan Mayor on January 25, declared a state of emergency on the island because of the road and garbage situation.

For Roatan the road to recovery will likely be long and not without pitfalls. It’s not easy doing business without basic infrastructure: roads or garbage collection. “How do you attract foreign investment if the place is not attractive enough?,” asks Julio Galindo, ex Roatan Mayor and ex Bay Islands Congressman.

Roatan is an island living a split existence. On one hand there are examples of XXI century technologies and operations like the gas and wind powered Roatan Electric Company [RECO] and some of the largest, safest dive shops in the world. On the other hand, the basic infrastructure of the island like roads and garbage disposal system are in shambles.

But why is that and what caused this splitting of island’s personality?

The Very First Roads

Before any roads existed on Roatan, the majority of transport on the island was done by boat, on foot, on horseback, or on a motorcycle. Until the late 1960s the most efficient way to travel up and down island was by boat named ‘Norma Don’ captained by Wilkie Edwards leaving Oak Ridge to Coxen Hole. ‘Norma Down’ would leave Oak Ridge every day at 6am, stop in Jonesville, French Harbour and arrive in Coxen Hole around noon, then head back.

Vehicular road transport on the island began with one short stretch of road wide enough for a truck to pass. In 1965-6, Sam Grant used what was the first vehicle on the island, a jeep truck, to traverse that first drivable road on the island between the landing strip in Coxen Hole and the town itself. In 1969 Walter McNab began transporting passengers on a windy, dirt road between French Harbour and Coxen Hole.

In 1974, a six kilometer dirt road between Port Royal, Diamond Rock, Camp Bay and Camp Bay village was built. Marvin Grant, an American with a USAID contract did much of the work. “We built the road around Wilks Point ahead so the government wouldn’t mess it up,” says Eric Anderson.

In the 1970s the east of the island began developing and in 1973 Eric Anderson flew Jacobo Goldstein, Honduras’ first minister of tourism, in a small Cessna to show him a potential site for a future international airport in Diamond Rock. “It was flat, it could be 8000 feet long, the land had few owners and it was much less expensive than to extend the landing strip in Coxen Hole,” said Eric Anderson. Anderson came to the island in 1962 with his father Roy Anderson and became a Cessna dealer for Central America. Obviously, this plan never came to fruition.

On the east end of the island sacks of flower were dropped from a helicopter to mark the way for the bulldozer to work its way through the bush. “We used to do stuff like that,” says Erick Anderson. Flower was cheap and exploded on impact in the canopy marking the work for the bulldozer.”Between 1970 and 1975 a dirt road between Coxen Hole and West End was constructed. It opened access to the West End and Sandy Bay, which was just a tiny fishing community with no tourist facilities. Some of the original work was done by one person: Domingo Andino, a D6 tractor operator paid by the central government .

Sam Grant used what was the first vehicle on the island

In 1986-90, during the presidency of Jose Azcona the Brick Bay to West End road was paved with 10 cm asphalt. President Callejas continued the paving from Brick Bay to Oak Ridge but using a much thinner 2.5 cm asphalt paving. Thus the majority of today’s large potholes are in that portion of the main road.

In 1992-93 a road between West End and West Bay was built using a tractor from Anthony’s Key Resort. Thus a meandering 48 kilometer back bone of the island: from West Bay to Camp Bay Village was created.

Roads Today

While the roads on Roatan are the worst they have ever been in their entire history, that history isn’t that long. “I am surprised the roads lasted this much,” says Bill Etches, a West End resident. According to Ing. Gustavo Isnardi Jr. there are 7,000 cars moving about on Roatan, placing constant stress on the roads. The island roads are constantly trafficked by heavy machinery, subject to frequent landslides, and are further weakened by water runoff. “The worse enemy of asphalt is water,” says Ing. Isnardi.

The 2017-2018 rain season exacerbated what was already a stressed road system. The Roatan Weather Facebook page reported 70.55 inches of rain during the last three months of 2017 which is roughly twice the average rainfall for the same period recorded in any of the past 23 years. Some of the most damaged roads are in Los Fuertes and Harbor. These areas have only 2.5 cm of asphalt, their drainage and maintenance have been neglected for years, and they handle very high levels of traffic. On most days a gigantic pothole by the RECO plant slows traffic to a crawl. “We are on the edge of what this island can take. There are problems where there really shouldn’t be,” said Samir Galingo, General Manager of Anthony’s Key Resort.

Drivers swerve to avoid potholes crossing into oncoming traffic

Some communities ended up cut off almost entirely. The only road linking French Harbour and Crawfish Rock is reminiscent of something from magic garden: mud road, canopy of trees spanning all across the road. For 500 meters around Tres Flores the road is one of the most beautiful vistas on Roatan looking down a ridge towards north shore beaches of Pristine Bay. Beyond that point, for about two kilometers, the road has been practically destroyed.

Residents of of Crawfish Rock have to pay exorbitant amounts of money just to be able to go to the supermarkets across the island. “We have to pay 500 Lps. to a guy to take us to Eldon’s every time we need to buy something,” said Celso Connor, a Crawfish Rock resident.

The lack of alternatives to main roads puts pressure on already exhausted infrastructure. “We need to have a paved north side road. That is the only way forward,” said Julio Galindo.

Another tricky part in creating a system of roads on the island is appropriating private land for the roads and their right of way. It’s often not easy. “As mayor you have to convince and incentivize people to give up a portion of their land for a municipal road,” says Julio Galindo. “But some people want an arm and a leg for their right of way. (..) I always tried not to expropriate people – buy them out at a value of their land.” Some roads ended up much longer, and indirect: a good example of this is the paved road around the Coxen Hole stadium.

The constant water and runoff from construction sites and swollen creeks damages the existing roads daily. Since the early 2000s Roatan Municipality would not allow for heavy construction or any road work to be done during the rainy season from October through January. “There is a moratorium on construction, but in this [Mayor Dorn Ebanks] administration, no one is enforcing it,” said Galindo, who sits on the Roatan Municipal council.

The roads took a heavy toll on the bodies and suspension of vehicles all over the island. Roatan potholes are a cash cow for mechanics and vendors of auto shocks. The potholes and poor condition of the roads increase traffic accidents as drivers swerve to avoid potholes crossing into oncoming traffic. In other words Roatan potholes cost lives.

Fixing the Roads

Much of the road construction over the last 20 years on Roatan was done by one company- Bay Islands Development Company [BIDCC] established on the island by Ing. Gustavo Isnardi Jr., a Paraguayan born engineer, in 1994. More recently, in 2007, BIDCC founded a consortium with the larger San Pedro Sula based PRODECON in order to bid for road construction in all three Bay Islands.

“The problem has been for the government to find funds,” said Ing. Gustavo Isnardi Jr. The most recent construction contract of 30 mln Lps. was allocated as an emergency contract by the central government from funds of ZOLITUR, INSEP and IHT. “I get a feeling the government wants us to put up some money to construct these roads, but they don’t expect it in other departments,” said Julio Galindo.

The contract for rebuilding a first portion of Roatan roads was awarded in December 2017 and involved cutting and filling all the potholes between Flowers Bay and West Bay, concrete paving the 200 meters paving at West Bay Mall, and “White topping, ” or placing a 15 cm concrete layer of pavement, on top of the two kilometer section of road in Flowers Bay. That however would be just the beginning.

The road construction equipment necessary for the construction was shipped in mid-December 2017 and BICD was waiting for better weather. With the contract specifying January 30 as the last work day the funds could leave the island. “We are working on extension of the dates of the contract,” said Ing. Isnardi.

On Roatan, like in the rest of Honduras, road construction and maintenance fall under several jurisdictions. There are national roads, there are municipal roads and then there are private roads.

The longest national road runs from West Bay all the way to Camp Bay Village, a distance of 48 kilometers with 38 kilometers of it paved, but with pavement in varying conditions. At times national roads were paved with both asphalt and in the last 6 years concrete. In 2010-14, during President Pepe Lobo the national Coxen Hole to Flowers Bay road was paved with a 2.5 cm concrete coating- white top, with central government approval, but using Roatan Municipal funds.

With several jurisdictions the maintenance and repair work has become a constant challenge. Legally, the national roads patching should be done only by national contractors.

During Julio Galindo mayorship, between 2010 and 2014, in just three years Roatan Municipality managed to pave 23 km of concrete roads, a distance from West End to French Harbour, just with municipal monies. “I had to pay the debt of previous administration for the first year, so we ended up working only three years,” says Galindo.

Roatan should be able to pave every last road on the island just with municipal funds

What becomes evident is quite surprising. If one Roatan mayor is able to pave 23 kilometers of concrete roads in just three years, Roatan should be able to pave every last road on the island just with municipal funds. In theory at least, no need for the largesse and straightjacket of the central government.

When Galindo was mayor, he paved roads and pressured central government to pave roads on the island from 2010-2014. Road paving begun in Gravel Bay, Mud Hole and large stretches of road were paved in Coxen Hole and West End. “By law the municipality can spend up to 40% of its budget on operating expenses, a minimum of 60% has to be used for improvements,” says Galindo. He did it all with 194 municipal employees.

Mayor Dorn Ebanks administration (2014-18) has done almost no road paving at all while the municipality employees went from 198 people to 300. Now with a new mayor Jerry Hynds hopes are high.

The highest quality paved roads on the island, likely of 20 kilometers in total, are private. Developers of Lighthouse Estates, Pristine Bay, Parrot Tree, Lawson Rock and many others have spent millions building and maintaining these roads. Private developers connected remote parts of the island: the Jackson to Marbella was one such private road that was municipalized during Julio Galindo mayorship.

The Conundrum

There are two types of asphalt paving on Roatan: a 10 cm and 2.5 cm thick. “During [president] Callejas time they were even using pavement of 30 cm,” said Isnardi. But subsequent Honduran governments began skimping on asphalt allocation. The West End to Brick Bay road was a “carpeta” road built with 10 cm thick asphalt. The Gravels Bay to West Bay and Brick Bay to Oak Ridge roads was built with thinner “doble traccion” road with 2.5 cm thick asphalt. These thinly paved roads are in biggest trouble.

According to Isnardi while concrete roads are around 20% more expensive to construct than asphalt roads, they are much more resistant. According to road builder Luis Alvarado, building a kilometer of asphalt road on the island costs around 7 million Lempiras, and a concrete road construction should come out around 9.8 million Lps.

In the next four years many of Roatan roads are likely to end up with 15 cm concrete white top, but how soon, that remains to be seen. There is a proposal to budget 85 million Lps. a year for improving and paving Bay Islands roads for the next 10 years, but Ing. Isnardi doesn’t know when the bid would be.