Extensive Riverbank Clearing Raises Erosion Fears, DOE Investigates

A seven-acre property along the Belize River has been stripped of vegetation from the water’s edge to the highway embankment, triggering concerns about erosion and possible damage to the riverbank ecosystem. Environmental authorities are now investigating the large-scale clearing at mile six-and-a-half on the Philip Goldson Highway. Property owner Sanju Chulani says he instructed a contractor to clear the land lightly so he could get a better view of the parcel, but was shocked by the extent of the work. The Department of the Environment, Forest Department and Lands Department have since launched a joint inspection to determine the environmental impact and whether anyone breached existing regulations.

 

Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer

“We are aware of it, and we have, put together a team that will go out and do an inspection. We have the DOE representative from the forest department and the lands department who will go to do an inspection. And after the inspection, I’ll be able to give you further updates.”

 

Britney Gordon

“Earlier you mentioned, you know, as all Belizeans know, there’s that sixty-six feet needed for any land that is going to be near any type of water. So does that apply?”

 

Anthony Mai

“Back in the day, they used to give title all the way to the water edge. When the Lands Act was passed, there was a specific requirement for land owners to leave sixty-six feet. In fact, the sixty-six feet reserve is crown land. It’s not private land, and it should be sixty-six feet from the high-water mark back then when the land was given or sold to private, land owners and the purpose of it was for it to be an easement, right? So the government back then believed that all Belizeans should have the opportunity to enjoy the water edge, and that no one should be able to say, “Well, this is my property and you need to move. Over the years, again, scientists have found that it has ecological function. And so you would see that, the Department of Environment, we promote, we promote it, but we don’t have it in our light. It’s under the Lands Act. The only way we are able to hold a developer to ensure that the sixty-six feet reserve is maintained is when we go through the environmental clearance process and the department decides that a project would receive environmental clearance. We develop what is called an environmental compliance plan, which is a contract that is signed between the Department of Environment and the investor, and the contract contains all the conditions under which the investor should construct and operate his or her facility.”

 

Mai says sensitive areas may require buffers of up to two hundred feet. Investigators are now determining whether the clearing requires further action.

 

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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