Construction, La Ceiba Style

I’ve watched many changes La Ceiba over the last five years, some good and some not but I am constantly fascinated by the very basic approaches that are taken to accomplish various projects, large and small.

I’ll also admit to a certain macabre fascination at the lack of safety, health and environmental standards that I have witnessed. I’ve done a fair amount of construction myself therefore have some experience with the health and safety requirements of the workplace in Canada. All I say is that if any of “our” standards were imposed here, nothing would be accomplished! Yes, I do believe that there should be improvements to protect the workers but at the same time I still have to admire the sheer audacity of how things are done here.

















There was the day that I stopped for photographs of the men who were taking a large limb off of one of the trees in the Central Park Square. This is a very busy part of the downtown core and there were no barricades or crowd control, as you can from the men sitting in the bench watching with some trepidation. Myself, I was impressed that the workers were using a ladder and had also tied a rope to said limb in order to control the fall. Yet the worker in the tree was using only a machete to chop his way through the limb, non grip sole shoes and no gloves. Thankfully, the mission was successful with no injuries!










One enterprising individual decided to build a street side vendor stall, brought in his supplies and started his construction, right in the midst of the busy street life of the market in full swing. I have a real fear of electricity and simply couldn’t believe the casualness of his standing above ground, his hammer and various overhead lines tucked under his elbow as he positioned the roof brace.














The cement was mixed on the street and the structure simply lifted up and placed into coffee cans of concrete in order to both brace it and to prevent its “accidental” removal. This stall was completed the following day, with its “for rent” sign and in the month following its completion, I have yet to see it used.










There is a phenomenal amount of concrete construction all over La Ceiba and on one of the busier downtown core streets I’ve watched a two storey building progressing over the last two months.



Concrete is mixed in a pile right on the street surface and carried in 5 gallon buckets or wheelbarrows to where it is needed, building debris is piled on the sidewalk or street, supplies are piled wherever there is space and life continues in and around the construction site with no consideration for pedestrians or traffic. You can see the roasted corn vendor who has maintained his working space right at the edge of the building site, complete with airborne debris and his food sales are probably booming given the proximity to the work site.

The men work in whatever clothing or shoes they possess, I have rarely seen work gloves and have never seen a hardhat on a construction site. There are no safety harnesses, telescoping ladders, power tools and only the most rudimentary hand tools. Yet, these projects are completed!