An Environmental Award…but legislation not yet passed

It’s a case of putting the cart before the horse. We refer to the folks at the Belize Tourism Board who held their ninth annual National Tourism Awards on Wednesday at Old Belize. The much publicized event was held with plenty fanfare and the big deal were the awards to “Key tourism pioneers.” But someone did not read the script right. A release issued by the B.T.B. following Wednesday night’s ceremony stated that “Craig Hayes, Ali Flota and Mike Heusner received the Environmental Award of the Year for their work in getting the Catch and Release Legislation passed for the protection of Bonefish, Permit, and Tarpon in Belize”. And now as it turns out, News Five has confirmed with the Fisheries Department that the legislation for which the award was given has not yet been passed and is in fact only in draft stage. This all leaves us to wonder about the criteria used for this particular award.