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The government of Belize and OCEANA have arrived at a compromise - and there will be no referendum on Offshore Oil Exploration.
As we have reported, Oceana Belize collected over 22,000 signatures in a petition drive and submitted them to the Governor General in June, but after the required time, Government did not certify the signatures and did not allow the trigger of the referendum mechanism.
That is because both sides have been talking and now we know about what. OCEANA has struck an agreement with the government and there will be no referendum. Instead, government will amend the Referendum Act to make it so that a mandatory referendum must be held prior to any proposed amendment or repeal of the Petroleum Operations (Maritime Zone) Moratorium Act, of 2017.
The Prime Minister discussed it this evening in Toledo:
