Corozal Investor Given Six Weeks to Remove Illegal Jetty

Some weeks ago, News Five brought you the story of the illegal jetty that an investor in Corozal had begun to construct in the Corozal Bay. The jetty, still not completed, was at least three hundred feet into the sea and work was still underway. The residents of the area had raised concerns because the structure was in an area that is part of the Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and they suspected that the investor had not gotten the necessary permits to build the jetty. News Five checked with the Department of the Environment, which confirmed that there was no permit given to have the structure built and today, Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai told us that the property owner has six weeks from the time the jetty was deemed illegal to remove it.

 

Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, Dept. of Environment

“Before the jetty was constructed, or is constructed, he would have had to do an EIA, right, because that is what the law says.”

 

Marion Ali

“Did he do that?”

 

Anthony Mai

“The law says that any project within a protected area requires an EIA. So we informed him, he didn’t do the EIA and he went ahead and he constructed a portion of the jetty. When we were informed, we went and we issued a stop order and he was charged for that, particularly because it’s an offense to start a project without environmental clearance. When we were about to settle the matter, we were informed that he continued to construct and we met with him, and because of all the history in terms of the violation, we agreed with him that the jetty would be removed altogether. And so this came from him, from the owner: the owner agreed that because of all that has occurred, he agrees to remove the structure and we said that was the best option for us, the Department of Environment as well. And so we have written to him and we have given him a time period within which he needs to remove the jetty.”