Last night we told you about the alarm raised over dredging in the Placencia Lagoon. Well, tonight, a verbal stop order has been issued to Seaboard Holdings Limited, the company responsible for the dredging as the Department of Environment continues its investigation.
Yesterday, we told you about the concerns residents had that they were unaware of who was digging in their lagoon and whether it was authorized. Well, since then a March 16th letter of authorization has emerged where Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai tells company Director Mark Espat that Seaboard Holdings had the environmental clearance to extract 4,500 cubic yards of sand/silt. This extracted material was to be used to reclaim parts of the beach that had eroded on specific parcels.
But while the project had clearance, the contractor Albert Loewen violated both the time and distance limitations stipulated in the permit. But apart from that, according to the chairman of Placencia, the bigger issue is that these permits are being issued and the residents of these communities are left in the dark. He explained more via telephone this afternoon after he visited the site.
Voice of: Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council
"I believe a verbal stop order was given to the contractor that was doing the work. This morning I was out there personally along with the leader from the Seine Bight community, the chairman, as well as other concerned residents and the contractor who was contracted to do the work came out and we had discussions with him and they admitted that they did not go according to the specifications of the permit that was given so there was violations in every angle which is common with most developments all over and that kind of work. There is little to no monitoring from the relevant agencies and it was the same here so that is really what riled up residents and as community leaders we have to be out there in support of our constituents."
Courtney Menzies:
"What happens next because on one hand the project does have a permit just that they were violated conditions but on the other hand there's still work being done in this lagoon?"
Voice of: Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council
"That's correct and it is our intention to really reach out to the appropriate authorities because there's multiple agencies that issues permits and grant these concessions and approve these works so it is our intention to reach out to our area rep and all the relevant agencies to chart a different way, the communities have to be completely involved in knowing what's going on. It can't be where developers go to Belmopan and fill an application and get these works done without the communities knowing."
Our archives show that contractor Albert Loewen has been named before for violating permits. Chairman Garbutt explained that it's unfortunate that it's Belizeans who are damaging the peninsula's fragile ecosystem:
Voice of: Warren Garbutt, Chairman, Placencia Village Council
"It's a very small community and we work with all different sectors, the developers, the real estate agents, however we have to really let them know and everybody has to be on the same page when it comes to the sustainability of our existence. There's very few developers on the peninsula so if we can, it's not anything personal but we have to work with the authorities to be a part of it. There are ways in which these things can be done in a sustainable manner. Like you rightly mentioned, just a few days ago we were out at Funk Caye which is very close to the main barrier reef and some dredging was being done with the same method, using big excavators just clearing way for channel to fill an island, it's not sustainable I mean these are areas where local fishermen use on a daily basis to catch their bait and for fly fishers to fish for targeted species like bonefish and permit and you know when the ecosystem is disturbed in that type of way and especially by the same operator, it really causes us to ask questions and really brings a lot of concern."
"It's such a small community that we feel the impacts right away when those actions are being done and people are doing it without any regard and a big disappointment that a lot of the players in this one are Belizeans. a lot of times it's foreign developers who just develop their property, no regard for the environment and then just leaving, selling the properties after a few years, these are Belizeans who are probably not from the area but have no regard either, it's frustrating."
We reached out to Loewen who explained that he was out of the country. He also said, quote, "A lot of people always focus on the negative. Without us wanting it, we have found fill that no one knew was there, it could be used to solve a large part of the beach problem Placencia has, it is the same sand that you would find on the beach side… In my opinion there is no long term harm in dredging in the lagoon, all the wild life loves the deeper water, the fill is there, and we need to save our beaches." End quote.
