Environmentalists want feasibility study on proposed Puerto Azul project

In the wake of the prime minister’s pronouncement on the proposed Puerto Azul development project, the coalition of environmental organizations, including Oceana, APAMO and the Belize Audubon Society, has written to the chair of the Ministerial Investment Sub-committee, Godwin Hulse.  The release says, “In the spirit of the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to transparency of process, we formally request that the public release of the feasibility study conducted on the proposed Puerto Azul project. The five test criteria that the project’s developers have been tasked to provide to the Government of Belize are (as expressed by you in June 2013 in local media reports): socially and economically acceptable, legally doable, brings revenue to the Government of Belize, brings meaningful jobs to country and doesn’t destroy the environment, but in fact enhances it.  Within the context of law, public policy and good governance, we ask that the methodology that will be used to assess the five test criteria and all related material submitted as required by the environmental processes be made public.”