Court Action a Possibility to Stop Testing

Candy Gonzalez

But with all the back and forth between D.O.E. and the marine conservation community, seismic testing is a done deal. It is scheduled to start on Thursday. But, not so fast say the watch dogs of this project. They say they are prepared to file an injunction and take it as far as they can if Government doesn’t stall the seismic testing:

Candy Gonzalez, Board President, Belize Institute for Environmental Law and Policy

“We would definitely be looking at court action. The first step would be to try and get an injunction but the legal processes are costly and long term and can run for years. I often say that people, we can’t depend on legal system when we have immediate needs. We use the legal system as one of our tools. Our first line of defence is to get people involved and get people aware and get people to start hitting the media, our legislators and all Government officials in terms of changing their course of action.  And yes, legal action is a tool. It is not the end. A lot of people believe that if you file a court case, then everybody can sit back and wait until the court case is over. Well, legal action is only a tool. And we need public awareness and public outcry. That is our biggest tool.”

Janelle Chanona

Janelle Chanona, VP, OCEANA Belize

“That will be something that we will be discussing with our lawyers in terms of looking at all our option. I think underscoring all of this, is to assure the public that we will pursue any and all legal options, anything that is within our purview, to have this matter addressed. Because as Candy says, it’s really, the legal angle we know that sometimes these things can take years and by the time you have a decision it is moot or academic and want this to be public pressure.”