P.M. Barrow says Guatemalan Oil Company poses no threat to our territorial sovereignty
Dean Barrow
Prime Minister Dean Barrow also weighed in on the question of a Guatemalan-owned oil company that was granted concession rights to explore the southern waters of Belize. While he said he was just briefed on the situation, the Prime Minister said that it is not a matter of Belize’s territorial sovereignty being threatened by an outside company. In fact Barrow said that the company applied for concession rights like any other foreign company operating in Belize. At any rate he reiterated that drilling won’t be done for another two years.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Anything that’s relevant will have to be considered before there can be any drilling. Remember that apart from any general policy position that the government might wish to take. Let’s assume that we decide after the right cost benefit analysis that deep offshore exploration ought to continue there are E.I.A.s to get through; there is environmental compliance to be worked out. The whole question of monitoring, the whole question of what the companies if they’re given the green light would have to do to ensure that as far as is humanly possible nothing would go wrong in terms of the concerns that we have. In that kind of a context I don’t see how anyone can try to create immediacy to the issue that’s simply not there. I accept that the debate has well and truly started, is extremely relevant, is extremely important. I encourage it, the government will continue to do its homework in trying to gather all the information that’s necessary but I am telling you that there is no need for any hasty decision because there is not any prospect of any offshore drilling take place or any drilling between the reef and the mainland as some people have expressed.”
Mr. Barrow needs to do his homework. Since 2007, an EIA hasn’t been required for oil exploration or actually drilling for oil. In addition, drilling for oil has ALREADY occurred inside the Reef – two wells were dug by Island Oil (the Guatemala company) in the last 4 or 5 years – -and a man from Independence was killed when the oil rig tipped over while being towed into Big Creek.
Typical statement by this fool…Only he and the rest of the UDP gang would sell our patrimony
Lindsay Howard either you are pretending to be an attorney or if you are attorney then UWI should pull your certificate cuz any lawyer will know an EIA is mandatory under our laws stop misleading the Belizean public
christelle.. maybe the guy has a point and BTW, you don’t have to be an attorney to do so. if i know for a fact something about a company and it’s operation, doesn’t mean am an attorney. now if i start to mention that section x of the laws of belize, then you can say that i might be an attorney. you cheap cake.. with the barrow admin, the corrupt EIA personnel, gives out grant. they love the under the table deal.. i think u’d love it too! damn, how many more years for this burro to get out of office!
thats rite PUP…I mean tim (SARCASM)
the biggest problem belize has is dean borrow
u cant trust a ball headed man..lol