Development vs. Conservation in Caye Caulker

The Caye Caulker Village Council is raising red flags over seawall construction and dredging in the island’s western mangrove zone. In a letter to the Department of Environment, the council warned that the works could damage mangroves, weaken the island’s natural protection from erosion and storm surge, and limit public access to the waterfront. Sustainable Development Minister Orlando Habet says he will review the concerns with the D.O.E. and work to balance development with conservation.

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development

“I haven’t seen the letter. It hasn’t come to me. If it came and went to the Department of Environment directly I haven’t been informed, so maybe it’s something recent. But I will be looking into it discussing it with the Department of Environment to see if they have received the letter, then how we can respond. But just from the concerns of the community if the seawall is there one, you have to see what positivity there is to it. If it avoids water from coming into the community during high storms and high tides. And then also looking at the negative side to it, because sometimes you build these walls and they’re not built then it causes erosion on one side and the other. So but since I haven’t seen it I will have to address it to the DOE.”

 

Britney Gordon

“How do we find a balance between development and maintaining the part of the island that attracts tourists to it?”

 

Orlando Habet

“Especially Caye Caulker, I think that they have been the council has also tried to see how they could maintain some type of structure within the community itself. And because it’s very touristic, we all know that if you go to San Pedro, it’s a lot more hectic. If you go to Caye Caulker, it’s a lot calmer. You can walk the streets and everything else. So you don’t want to see all those vehicles and golf carts where people are already accustomed to walk. So I think that there has to be a balance. My personal view is that I like to walk, and so I would prefer that it’s not congested as what’s now become San Pedro town terms of the buildings, I think that the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing, which has a dedicated desk for the building codes, will be working along with the municipality to see how they can structure in some organization within it.” 

 

The letter was also sent to Belize Rural South, Area Representative, Andre Perez, who responded with his approval for the project to proceed.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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