Minister Explains Presence of Extraction Machine in San Pedro  

Today, both ministers Perez and Habet were asked to speak on major developments that are happening in Belize, primarily in San Pedro, that involve extractive activity or infrastructural developments over the sea. Habet, who was asked to weigh in on these types of projects after Belize has signed a blue bond that supports marine environments, did so candidly. He said that much of Belize is still under protection and that the country needs development but that it is doing so as responsibly as it can. Perez, who was asked about heavy-duty machinery that was recently shipped to San Pedro for development, assured that the protocols are being followed before any kind of activity takes place.

 

Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South

“I did find out that it’s a machine for excavating the quarry there, and that quarry that you’re talking about there, they are very compliant. They have everything in place with all – compliant for doing the mining. It’s just a bigger machine to produce the material that is white marl, which is crucial for the streets. Remember that the town of San Pedro, we have an aim of paving nine miles, but to pave those nine miles, we need to prepare those streets with white marl. If we were to talk about cost, bringing nine loads of white mall on a barge from Belize City to Ambergris Caye would cost somewhere around $15,000. That’s what it costs. Now with this natural resource available, and we’re doing it the right way, correctly, in compliance, this is what is created for the Town Council and for the town to prepare these streets for paving, we’ve saved millions of dollars. So that’s the bright side we need to look at. While it’s true that it’s looking like a huge machinery, the development of Ambergris Caye is growing so fast that we have to prepare. But everything so far shows that it’s being done in compliance.”

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development

“For national development there are certain risks that we take. Progress, as they say, brings problems, but let’s take it from the standpoint. Belize has a vast amount of land and sea in conservation. We need national development. Some projects that are entertained by one, applying for an environmental impact assessment goes to at least 15 professionals on the N.E.A.C. after a summary of the report comes to them from the Department of the Environment. We go based on their recommendations. I think that we have, as 60 percent of our country is still in forest cover, we have about 39 percent in protected areas, a large part of the logging comes from sustainable logging concessions, and we really have very little mining being done that will affect the forest. Our environment – certainly when a mangrove is torn down, people see it negatively. What we have to start to do now is to also ensure that these companies and these investors can also do some restoration activities.  And to work along with us to see how we can still have those development projects, but also be as conservative as possible.”