Will Prime Minister Stick to His Word?

John Burgos

The Prime Minister’s statements do not appear to be contradictory. Indeed, they are clear pronunciations on the issue, despite attempts to prevaricate on the referendum issue. So, is the Government to be trusted now? The Belize Tourism Industry Association appears to be giving the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt as to the delay on moving these issues forward.

John Burgos, Executive Director, Belize Tourism Industry Association

“The Prime Minister made a public announcement last year, that he mentioned a moratorium was in place, and the details of that moratorium was to be discussed and agreed on, but now he asked that time be awarded to him for that process to take place. It has not happened; we’re still convinced that the Prime Minister will get back to us and let us know; but right now, I think, is the due time, is the perfect time for him to let us know what is going to be the way forward. In terms of the seismic testing being approved without public consultation, we still believe that the stakeholders, the public at large, should have been consulted; the N.G.O. community should have been consulted, with regards to what they have planned and what they have approved, planning to approve. We have been hearing that consultations were conducted, and we want to clearly state for the record, particularly for the B.T.I.A. as the largest leading tourism organization: we were never consulted; any of our ten chapters countrywide were never consulted; and our national secretary was never consulted. I believe that some of the N.G.O.’s – what they are calling a consultation, was basically a presentation of what they were considering to do, and at the time, I believe a work plan was not presented; basically stating when the works would start. You have a presentation one week and the next week you hear about ships being in your land, doing testing already. That leads one to wonder too many things too many questions.”