South Cebada Conservation Post is Inaugurated

The Protected Areas Conservation Trust, PACT, along with a team of five ranking government officials, including Minister of National Security John Saldivar, journeyed to the depths of the Chiquibul National Park today to inaugurate a conservation post at a remote frontier location known as South Cebada. The area is fringed along the Belize/Guatemala border by two rural communities on the Guatemalan side and is known as a hotbed for poaching and illegal farming. The newly built camp comes in at a price tag of approximately one hundred thousand dollars and is designed to house as many as twelve persons, a majority of whom are Belize Defense Force personnel. The installation, according to Minister Saldivar, should aid in patrol activities conducted by B.D.F. and other law enforcement agencies.

John Saldivar

John Saldivar, Minister of National Security

“What we have done here today is a part of a long term plan to put more of our footprint in this area to make our presence more felt in this area and hoping to deter the encroachments that have been happening. This is only one in a number of things that we have planned to try to improve our presence in this area.”

Stephen Ortega

Stephen Ortega, B.D.F. Commander

“I believe, as you know, we have quite a few of these dotted along the western border for the specific purpose of maintaining the serenity of the Chiquibul to ensure that what is in here is preserved for further use. So this will definitely enhance what we are doing out here and improve that we have people permanently stationed here now so that our patrols would be able to stay a bit longer and ensure that the deterrence method is applied properly.”

On Friday, we’ll have more on this story.