Ara-Macao, the mega-development proposed for the Placencia peninsula has garnered more than its share of attention. But not satisfied with that word of mouth, opponents of the project, organized under the banner of "The Peninsula Citizens for Sustainable Development" held a round table discussion with the press to once again highlight the project and what they see as the dire effects it will have on the fragile peninsula. And while they continue to oppose enthusiastically, today they admitted that they're not quite sure what they'll do next.
Alfonso Noble,
NEAC has not made a decision on the matter. In fact the Minister of Natural Resources Johnny Briceno said in the House that no decision has been made and no decision will be made until NEAC is satisfied.
Mary Toi,
"What is NEAC and the DOE going to do. Are they going to keep delaying and delaying and delaying approving or denying this project? For how long? The EIA is inadequate. They've asked for additional information from the developer. That information was supposed to be made available by the ninth of June. As far as we understand it is still not been submitted."
Opponent #1,
"Last year Ara-Macao was advertising its project in the United States, claiming Belize had already given approval. If you look into this year's Destination Belize, which had to be approved last year, there were advertisements for Ara Macao already approved and are now claiming that 25 units have been sold. Now this is where these questions come in. How can they have on one hand claim that this project has been approved and now our government says it has not been approved. Where does the truth lie?"
Alfonso Noble,
What are you doing now?
Mary Toi,
"You tell me."
Alfonso Noble,
Will you take legal action will you be going out on the streets, what now?
Mary Toi,
"What we have requested right now, and its in front of the media release, we are asking that it be denied. Just plain and simple."
Alfonso Noble,
But will you all be mounting a legal challenge?
Mary Toi,
"It depends..."
Alfonso Noble,
That is the question because at some point in time we will stop attending these briefings and we will stop getting these packets.
Mary Toi,
"We want to stop having them too. That is one of the issues. What happens. We can only follow the law. The next thing we have to do, I guess, would be to file a lawsuit but we don't have the money for that. We don't want to do it. We would prefer to just follow the process that has already been set out and the environmental laws of the country and have that come to a legal conclusion."
Opponent #1,
"So what do we do, how do we get NEAC to make a decision. How do we get...you tell us. We certainly don't know so we are just hanging."
Opponent #2,
"You Belizeans, what can you do. What can you do for us? You know the problem. You can be right there with this organization with everybody in the country who has deep concerns supporting us, going forward with it. Yes we need to protect the development of this country, yes it needs to sustained, but whatever it is, wherever it is, this is just the tip of the iceberg."
Last week in the House of Representatives, Minister of Natural Resources John Briceno said that NEAC has not approved the Ara Macao Project. Further consultations will include at least one more community meeting.
