Category: Corozal District

Residents of the Bay Shore Drive area in Corozal Town have voiced concerns over the extent of the environmental impact that a project can have in their community. The project is the construction of a jetty that extends several hundred feet into the Corozal Bay. Whether or not the property owner has gotten the requisite environmental permits to carry out the construction, the residents say they have already begun to see changes in the sea immediately next to where the construction is taking place. They shared with News Five their concerns about the project and its impact on the ecology in their community.

 

Voice of: June Hartley, Bay Shore Drive Resident, Corozal Town

“We just had a small breakwater a very small beach here, and with the advent of this wall, you can see that the whole tide has changed. Number one, the water is deeper on the other side of the wall than it is in this harbor, and the sand is building up. Sand is building up inside that area and sand is coming over when the tide is high, it’s coming over and filling out this rocky area here.”

 

Marion Ali

“Which is right in front of your property?”

 

Voice of: June Hartley

“That’s correct, yes. I know this wasn’t the finished product. This is intended to be a wall as tall as the one on the other side and I can’t really imagine what that will do then to the water; what we will get environmentally when that whole area is blocked off.”

Voice of: Edward Hartley, Bay Shore Drive Resident, Corozal Town
“I live right next door, so it directly impacts me in every way you can think of and of course, we’ve had a lot of problems with noise, with the construction, with large trucks, unloading boulders, with backhoes, with an excavator, you name it, we have had it. I used to have a view of the lights of Corozal. Now I have a view of a brick wall going out into the ocean and it probably impacts the value of my property.”

 

 

 

Voice of: William Hedlund, Bay Shore Drive Resident, Corozal Town
“Why do you need that big of a breakwater? I could understand if somebody wants to put a breakwater out 50 feet. A lot of these shoreline properties have breakwaters put out to stop erosions, but they all had environmental impact statements done. And this one, by chance or happenstance, doesn’t have anything done to it. It’s about 400 feet out into the bay. And so when you do that – why are you going to do that? Are you going to turn it into a water ski arena? Are you going to turn it into a jet ski arena? What are you going to do? There’s no reason for doing the development like they’ve done it.”

 

 

 

Voice of: Ty Stephens, Bay Shore Drive Resident, Corozal Town
“Just with the ecology of the sea out there, everything from algae to big fish, everything from algae all the way to the big fish that come through here is going to be affected by it. So detrimentally, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t think it would be positive. I love Belize. Obviously, I think Belize is beautiful along with his people. I love everything about it. And I’m just  really cautious when it comes to any sort of big man-made situations that we’ve got over here.”

While the residents of the community are concerned about the project that they believe will cause significant environmental damage to the sea and marine life in their residential community, they are probably right. The Chief Environmental Officer at the Department of the Environment, Anthony Mai told News Five that they have given the owner no permission to build the jetty, which sits in the Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Mai says the department had issued a stop order on the project and that order was violated.

 

On the phone: Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer

“The Department of Environment is aware of the construction of the jetty the Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. In fact, we had received an application for the construction of the jetty. The owner of the jetty started the jetty, in terms of construction a few months ago, and so, a cessation order was issued for the activities to stop in terms of the construction. So we were in communication with the owner of the property on the jetty and we were looking towards settling violation. And then we informed the owner that he would have had to go through a process before the DOE considers whether to grant clearance for the jetty or not. It is unfortunate that during the discussion in terms of settling the matter, the owner went ahead and continued with the construction. So, there has been no permit from the Department of Environment that allowed the construction of the jetty.”

 

Marion Ali

“What would have to be done now? Obviously, the work has already begun and it extends into the sea.”

 

Voice of: Anthony Mai

“Yes, so currently, the activity is a violation under the environmental laws, and so the owner will be held responsible for that violation.”

A body was found today on the outskirts of Corozal Town. Sketchy reports are that the body was discovered behind a newly-built Mormon church on the Santa Rita Road this afternoon. Police have not released any information thus far on this discovery or the identity of the person as forensic experts left the scene late this evening. They have confirmed, however, that the body is not that of missing Corozal taxi driver, Rosalito Pacheco, who has not been seen since Wednesday when he left home to do a taxi run. Eastern Division Head, A.C.P Hilberto Romero share with the media today what they have on the missing taxi man.

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“On Thursday, the 1st of February, 2024, Marli Mo report her Kamala husband, Rosa Pacheco missing.  She reported he left in his gold Toyota car to do taxi runs.  from Wednesday and has not returned since.  Efforts have been made to locate him.  His phone has been called and he is not responding. Several searches are being conducted to try and locate him, but so far he has not been found, nor has the car been found.”

 

Marion Ali

“Did he say where he was leaving to do his run?”

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“No, he left to do his regular runs within Corozal.”

 

Marion Ali

“Had he, prior to him going missing, complained to anybody or told the police that anybody was troubling him or had he received threats?”

 

A.C.P Hilberto Romero

“No, not that we know of. No, we have no such report.”