Haulover River environment under threat
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there’s a whole other world out there right at our feet…one filled with breathtaking vistas and amazing animals. Earlier today News 5’s Jacqueline Woods got her feet wet finding out how one community group is trying save the Haulover Creek from itself…and more importantly, from the rest of us.
Luis Garcia, Dir., Belize Community Service Alliance
“At this time right now bigger boats can’t come through here. And this is a beautiful passage towards the sea to go fishing for tourists.”
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
This morning, Director of the Belize Community Service Alliance, Luis Garcia, escorted cameraman George Tillett and I on a tour of the Haulover Creek. The purpose of trip was to assess the condition of the fifteen-mile long waterway and determine methods to preserve its integrity.
Luis Garcia
“In the history of Belize, all the boats used to go up from Belize City to Cayo through the Haulover Creek. All the Cayo boats, The Amy…and those are people we can identify by boats. Then you have also all the chicle, all the logging would come to Belize City through the Haulover Creek.”
Today, big boats are no longer able to traffic the area because of the large accumulation of dead tree branches and logs found submerged or floating in the water creating navigational problems.
The ride can only be described as striking and pleasant, explaining why the route has become a popular tour with visitors to Belize.
While there is little we can do to prevent situations caused by natural disasters, other occurrences down river are totally our fault.
Luis Garcia
“Further down to where the population starts, where people start living on the creek side, or actually in canals that move from the creek side, we have people and businesses dumping all their trash right into the creek. And some of the trash actually floats, the other sink and it’s creating a big pollution. Fifteen years ago people used to swim in the creek, now you cannot even do that.”
On Saturday B.C.S.A., PACT and a team of volunteers, will be working hard to clean up the Haulover Creek. It is hoped that the campaign will make people become aware of the importance of this precious site and more committed to keep it clean.
Luis Garcia
“Belize City depends on the Belize River, the water you get at the end of the pipe, it’s from the Belize River directly, so whatever happens upstream, it what you get in the pipe. So we are trying to create an awareness that all of us, including Belize City, should participate in an environmental awareness programme of the Belize River, and therefore also, with the increased tourist, we just heard the news that tourism is booming again and also that the Haulover Creek is getting dirtier and dirtier, so we decided, let’s bring our efforts to Belize and see how Belize people react to it, and that’s where we are. Unfortunately, the people that use the Haulover Creek the most are the people that are involved in tourist, and it’s from them that we are getting the least support.”
A part of the campaign will include educational talks with people who live the and do business on the Haulover Creek. Jacqueline Woods reporting for News 5.
If you are interested in taking part in the clean up, you are ask to please report at the BUCA Shell gas station on the Northern Highway at eight-thirty Saturday morning.
