Today 20,132 petition signatures were handed over to the Minister of Sustainable Development - that's over 20,000 residents who don't want the Waterloo Port Expansion project to continue.
This project is the third cruise port that's been proposed for the Belize District - along with Port Coral and Port of Magical Belize. And while the former is well on its way to completion, Waterloo is still having trouble getting its EIA approved.
In fact, the NEAC decided last year not to give the environmental clearance, stating that the first ESIA did not adequately address several concerns.
But Waterloo has resubmitted their application, much to the frustration of many residents - who are wondering how many bites at the cherry Waterloo will get. And they are voicing those concerns to the government in the form of a petition.
Courtney Menzies was at the handing over ceremony today and has this story.
No to Waterloo - that's what over 20,000 Belizeans have said. The expansion project planned for the Port of Belize has received negative feedback from thousands of residents, including the environmental NGO's.
And this morning, on behalf of all the petitioners, Tom Greenwood presented the signatures to the Minister of Sustainable Development. He explained that once residents understood the threat to the environment, they jumped at the chance to sign.
Thomas Greenwood, Presented Petitions
"From Punta Gorda to Corozal, from Cayo to the Cayes, it was countrywide, and what really sent me into a state of pleasant shock was the reaction of people. They'll be naysayers, they'll be those who say, I'm not really interested in that. But no, once you mention the barrier reef then right away, people's hackles go up. This is all about the barrier reef, end of story, the barrier reef. i have the pleasure of being known as the first person who brought a cruise ship into Belize, it was in the 1990's, 1992 I think it is, it was only 350 passengers but it was a cruise operation and one of the things I recognize by reading about cruise shipping in Caribbean and Central America is that unfettered, uncontrolled, can be dangerous. Dangerous to your environment, natural environment, business environment, it can be dangerous and I studied more and more scenarios about it and in some places, cruise operations were asked to leave."
And it was Minister Orland Habet who received the petitions and committed to presenting them at the next Cabinet meeting. He explained that this is also a part of the entire EIA process:
Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development
"It is important because as I mention, part of the EIA process requires that you look at, especially when you talk about sustainable development, that you look at the economic side, the social side, and the environmental side so this is part of the social side where, whether you're doing a consultation on a one to one basis, in a group, in a community, this is part of it and that has to be taken into consideration when a decision is going to be made. As we know, the Department of Environment does the assessment of the EIA, they make a recommendation or at least a summary report that goes to the NEAC and then the NEAC comes back with a recommendation to the Department saying yes, no, they recommend a yes or a no."
The petition is still open and so both Habet and Greenwood are expecting more signatures.
