Monkey River loses its beach

It was a story from a part of the country from which little is heard and still less is ever seen by the Belizean public. Early this year News Five sent a team to the idyllic village of Monkey River… and discovered that alongside the lush vegetation and friendly residents, an environmental disaster was threatening to destroy an entire community.

SEE ARCHIVES DATED JANUARY 14TH FOR TEXT OF STORY

A recent check with residents of Monkey River reveals that subsequent efforts to halt the erosion using sandbags and pimento sticks have proven unsuccessful. And to add to their woes fishing guides report that there has been a massive poisoning of fish in the Sennis River, one of the streams, which feed the Monkey River. The large scale killing of popular gamefish, primarily snook and tarpon, threatens to damage one of the area’s major sources of income. Local residents are blaming pollution from a nearby shrimp farm but investigations have thus far failed to pinpoint the exact cause.