9 acres of surveyed sea still mystery to ministry

Last Thursday News Five broke the story of a portion of the Caribbean Sea six miles northwest of San Pedro Town that had been surveyed on August eighth, 2008. During that time, the Ministry of Natural Resources was presumably closed for public transactions and was busy investigating alleged wrong doings. Well, interestingly enough, the nine acres of sea was being surveyed for the Eiley family in the island.

The area was clearly marked with survey pegs over a nine-acre shallow portion of the water – no doubt earmarked for some type of development. When we talked to Minister of Tourism and Belize Rural South Area Representative, Manuel Heredia and Chief Environmental Officer, Martin Alegria, neither of them knew of the survey. In fact, Alegria said there wasn’t even an Environmental Impact Assessment done to determine the toll the development would cause on the surrounding area and the nearby reef system.

The day after our story aired, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Beverly Castillo and Lands Commissioner Manuel Rodriguez told us on camera that they were not aware of the survey. Tonight there is still no further word from the two officials or from the deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega who heads the ministry. News Five will stay on the matter until our questions and concerns are addressed about this particular situation.