Details of Approved Causeway Shared by DOE

Martin Alegria

Chief Environmental Officer Martin Alegria gave his professional advice on the causeway and spoke of what was agreed to in order for the ECP to be approved. He says that from an environmental mitigation perspective, he believes the   potential negative impact of causeways was the same for both projects at North Drowned Caye and Stake Bank. Alegria goes into details of what was agreed to several years ago.

Martin Alegria, Chief Environmental Officer

“What will be the impact of that causeway on the marine environment? So we said the first thing that needs to be done and is in the ECP is a geotechnical study of the route to make sure that now tomorrow it falls and then who then has to pick up the slack. We? The Government of Belize? So we said no, they have to do that. And once that is checked by Ministry of Works, who are the engineers and it is okay, then. The other issue of concern would be the height – navigation and height of the causeway. It was then discussed in the NEAC that the height of that cannot be less than ten feet so that others can pass through easily. So it was demanded from the designers that if we grant clearance, it will be eleven feet – based on information that was provided to us and other discussions we had. But there was this issue of not being able to traverse north to south, east to west. And so suggestions were made and accepted by the developer that somewhere in the middle of the causeway, there will be a portion that has to go high up in the air – thirty-five, I think it was forty feet at the end of the day that we demanded – because the navigational channels and liens cannot be disrupted. So eleven feet and forty feet were the two measurements that were used for the discussions of approving a causeway or not. Another one, the original design, if I recall the original didn’t have pedestrian for us to walk; it was more traffic. And so I think it was asked and it was accepted that a pedestrian section, a little section on one of the sides be put there for social purposes. For Belizeans to be able to go there, exercise, ride their bicycles or go fishing right off the pier.”