Last night, we told you about the Department of Environment's scolding of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry over the November 24 NEAC meeting. That's the one that ended with the unanimous refusal to grant environmental clearance to the Port of Belize Expansion project. Well, the Chamber has responded with a press release of its own.
As you may remember, the Chamber was seeking to set the public record straight that they voted in support of the PBL expansion project. They were attempting to correct reports to our newsroom that the NEAC's vote against the PBL project was unanimous.
For context, yesterday's Department of Environment released a public statement in response saying, quote, "The Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations regulates the EIA process and does not provide for any of its members, including the BCCI Representative or alternate, to participate and vote without attending the meeting. There was no virtual or remote participation allowed at the November 24, 2022, meeting of the National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC).
Well, in a skirmish of press releases, the Chamber sent out a statement less than an hour before the start of our evening newscast.
Their rebuttal says, quote, "The BCCI's representative on NEAC was not able to attend the meeting...However, after consulting with an officer of the DOE who was in attendance at the NEAC meeting, the BCCI was informed that it could submit its vote by email and proceeded to do so...
The BCCI was, therefore, greatly surprised when… the DOE issued a Press Release in which it stated that the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations do not permit members of NEAC to vote without attending the meeting... This statement by the DOE did not take account of BCCI's consultation with DOE prior to emailing its vote, nor of the fact that the EIA Regulations do not mandate attendance or voting at meetings to be in person. Regrettably, the BCCI's vote was not tabled at the meeting, a matter which the BCCI has recently discovered." End quote.
The Chamber then concludes its statement in disagreement with the DOE's characterization of their "yes" vote, which arrived by way of an email.
Their statement says, quote, "The BCCI takes issue with the insinuation in the DOE's Press Release… that it acted contrary to good decision-making practices of a responsible committee member in exercising its vote without taking into account the scientific and technical reports shared at the meeting. The BCCI's mandate requires it to be pro-development and pro-investment, save if the development/investment would harm the country or the economy. The BCCI, therefore, maintains that it voted in accordance with its mandate." End quote.
