Concerned Residents Protest Cayo Rosario Project Again

On Tuesday, environmentalists and concerned residents of San Pedro protested the Cayo Rosario Project. This large-scale development is planned for one of the islands near San Pedro, right within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, which has everyone worried. Oceana Belize, along with the residents and environmentalists, is calling for stronger protection of the country’s marine ecosystems, highlighting their crucial role in both the environment and the economy. In a statement on Facebook, Oceana Belize emphasized the growing threats to Belize’s marine resources, which are essential for the tourism and fishing industries that many communities rely on. Although the project underwent an Environmental Impact Assessment a few years ago, Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai reassured everyone that the developers have met all environmental requirements so far and clarified that no dredging has started yet.

 

On the Phone: Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, D.O.E.

“There was a protest done, yes, but the protest was because people are misinformed. First and foremost, people believe that they were doing excavation or dredging, which they were not and so they were saying that the dredging was illegal, which again, if they do it according to the E.C.P. it’s not illegal. So the current activity is not illegal. They do have permits to do that. The dredging component, if they use the proper – if they dredge following the proper method, it won’t be legal as well because they do have clearance to dredge. The biggest issue, Miss Ali in relation to this project, back then around 2017 was in relation to the fly-fishing area. Apparently, the area is a very good area for fly fishing and so they had some concerns in relation to that because the project does have, I think about 40 over-water structures that has been approved for that island. So, the project received environment clearance in 2018 after they signed onto an Environmental Compliance Plan. Since 2018, the E.C.P has been modified just slightly, not anything significant and some development has occurred slightly. And then they were doing more background information, finalizing the architectural plans, working with C.B.A. to get C.B.A.’s approval, working with the Mining Unit to get permit to the dredge et cetera. So the project now is moving forward with creating the first tier, and I think they had requested permission to build model homes, just some of the buildings, to demonstrate to the public what the development is all about. So they’re currently on site, or they were on site yesterday with a barge and an excavator. They were installing piles for the pier, so they were not excavating, they were not dredging and they’re not doing any of that. And so the D.O.E. did respond along with personnel from the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and we observed that the activities on site is permissible under the current E.C.P.”

 

Mai said the D.O.E will have a meeting shortly, including with its San Pedro office to  develop a monitoring program for the project to oversee it as it progresses. News Five also reached out to Minister of the Blue Economy, Andre Perez, who is the Area Representative for Belize Rural South. He indicated that the entire Cayo Rosario project is now being dealt with fully by all relevant government departments and that a meeting is set for Monday to further discuss the project and to review all the documents pertaining to the development of Cayo Rosario