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Waterloo - the Ashcroft - allied group backing the proposed and rejected cruise port project at the Port of Belize - are tonight calling out OCEANA for speaking out boldly against their project - while not saying anything about the Port of Magical Belize project - which plans to dredge more than Waterloo does.
The CEO of Waterloo Holdings, Stuart Howard wrote Janelle Chanona, OCEANA's Vice President saying, quote, "it will not have been lost on you that the media expose has laid bare details of the extent of this super development which will significantly impact Belize's marine life, natural resources and the environment. It is therefore surprising that there has been no public response on this matter from either you or the coalition of environmental NGOs" being primary among them.
Howard says "I hope I might be forgiven for thinking that some double standard seems to be at play here in the way Waterloo was excoriated by the coalition for its alleged environmental risks compared to the marked silence regarding Portico's potential devastating impacts. I hope I am mistaken. In any event, basic fair play requires that the environmental NGO community be not only fair but equally objective and relentless in its oversight and advocacy in relation to all development that could endanger the environment.
Your silence, senator, is deafening." End quote.
This evening, Chanona sent us a response saying, quote, "In my capacity as Senator...I have been closely following the various leaks and developments related to the multiple port proposals. It is my opinion that a thorough and transparent investigation is warranted to ventilate the significant issues that have emerged to date. These are public assets and therefore everything related to these proposals should be in the public domain.
In my capacity as Vice President of Oceana, I stand by all my on the record statements and positions on the numerous and significant concerns emanating principally from the fact that these mega-development proposals have not been and are still not being considered collectively and therefore, their combined impacts are not being calculated cumulatively."
