BELPO says problems could have been avoided on Macal

According to Gonzalez, the sedimentation problem could have been avoided if due process was carried our during the environmental impact assessment. She says that in his forty years of experience, Dr. Lanza saw the worst case of sedimentation in Belize when there was a severe build-up in 2009.

Via Phone: Candy Gonzalez, President, Board of Directors, BELPO

“His concern was that the sedimentation problem was very much under rated in the environmental impact assessment that was done by BECOL and that when we had the severe sedimentation build up in 2009, that even since then we have gotten no water quality test results from the Department of the Environment or the Ministry of Health and these are major concerns because the water that comes down from the Macal River joins the Belize River and it goes all the way down to Belize City and the sea. So it covers, you can say one-third of the population of Belize is in one way or another, taking water out of what comes from the Macal River.”

Delahnie Bain

Candy Gonzalez

“So he is saying that in the EIA, it was predicted that we wouldn’t have this sedimentation issue for at least twenty to thirty years?”

Via Phone: Candy Gonzalez

“In the EIA, actually it says we wouldn’t have the problem for forty years. The dam sedimentation lifespan was twenty to thirty years and we started seeing the sedimentation after only four years of the dam being in operation. And he’s worked in this area of aquatic ecology and eco toxicology for more than forty years and he told me personally that he’s seen dams all around the world and he has never seen as bad a sedimentation problem as what he viewed in 2009 when we had the severe thing that went all the down to the sea. And it’s just part and parcel of the problems that we’re facing in terms of the environmental compliance plan for the Chalillo dam.  I just would like to call on our officials to please give a little bit of concern as to what’s happening on dam related issues. Yes, we have three dams on the Macal River, but there are things that need to be done to make sure that those dams don’t affect the health and safety of the people downstream. And I want to encourage others to contact their area reps and local officials to continue the pressure to make sure that the situation is safe.”