It’s Castro versus the rule of law in Crooked Tree

In some ways it’s an example of the classic battle between the environment and development. But as News Five’s Janelle Chanona discovered, the war of words now heating up between Area Rep. Edmond Castro and the Belize Audubon Society may be more about the rule of law and why some people believe they’re above it.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary is renown for its birds … cashew … and more recently, Tilapia. The village of Crooked Tree is actually on an island in the middle of the protected area. The first causeway to the community was built in 1983 but construction of a second similar structure which began earlier this month has been the source of significant controversy.

Edmond Castro, Area Representative, Belize Rural North
“The people of Crooked Tree have been suffering for a very long time for lack of development.”

So to boost their opportunities, and give villagers access to pasture and farmlands, Belize Rural North Area Representative Edmond Castro, built a road seven hundred yards in length across the Western Lagoon. Work crews reclaimed material from the lagoon to use as a base and had planned to truck in additional fill as surfacing. But two weeks ago, the project ground to a halt because Castro never obtained the proper environmental clearance from the Forest Department before starting up the bulldozers.

Tanya Williams Thompson, Advocacy Manager, Belize Audubon Society
“Government made laws and we would want to see that Government is the first body which adhere to those laws and hopefully developers follow as well. This project should have gone to the Forest Department to get authorization because it is occurring within a protected area. They have the legal mandate under the National Park Systems Act which governs protected areas so they should have given authorization for development within the area. As well we have the Environmental Protection Act which governs development within Belize. So that’s a second process that should have gone through before the development started.”

The Belize Audubon Society has co-managed the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary for more than two decades. BAS claims it was never advised the project was underway and is now calling for an environmental study to be conducted in the area to determine possible negative impacts of the road. Castro admits he didn’t play by the rules but says he’s only putting his constituents first.

Edmond Castro
“Most of the time to be honest, there’s a lot of bureaucracy in getting things done and sometimes we just need to do what we need to do to make sure that we get things down, the rest can fall in place.”

Janelle Chanona
“Do you regret the way things have turned out though?”

Edmond Castro
“Not really. I know that this would have had to come but if I had gone through all the different processes, it would have been, we would not be here. We would still be talking up to next year, next three, four, five years, we’d still be talking. We are not doing nothing bad in the sense that we are not disturbing the ecosystem. I am environmentally friendly.”

Audubon’s environmental concerns are apparently not shared by most villagers who say the short stretch of road is a welcome option to either a twenty-mile drive or a soggy walk to their farms.

Alvin Waight, Crooked Tree Villager
“Sometime way to your waist yoh have to di walk inna mud and water with rice, corn, all ah that pan yoh back. We used to use horse when it come like this but dorey, we couldn’t even use dorey cause the place to bad fu dorey.”

Gerald Gillett, Crooked Tree Villager
“They can’t stop fu we project, they can’t, they no have no right. We baan yah. We live yah. They dah come yah, so…”

Janelle Chanona
“They do have the law on their side, the Environmental Protection Law, Sanctuary rules…”

Gerald Gillett
“Wildlife…we dah no wildlife. We first, human being first. We want to live but they no deh try protect we, they deh try protect the wildlife. Alligator inna fu we waters right now, tigers inna fu we jungle. No man. Weh happen to we? We no fu cultivate fu survive then? If we no get to the soil, I don’t know how we wah survive from here onward. Because you can’t buy the stuff, cost of living is too high. We have to get to the farm fu mind we family.”

George Guest, Chairman, Crooked Tree Village
“Audubon Society have been in here too long and they think they can control the village. They are controlling is their destiny of wildlife. Their sanctuary is not the village. They cannot control the village.”

Janelle Chanona
“The road though is in the sanctuary, nobody is disputing that.”

George Guest
“Well we don’t know that. We have to wait until we hear back from Government if we can go ahead. If we go ahead with this road, well not if, we are going ahead with it, no matter what, no matter if they bring the soldiers in or whatever to stop us, we are still going ahead.”

Castro’s plans don’t stop at the farmlands. The area representative’s vision is to link the Shipyard, Blue Creek and Guinea Grass communities with Crooked Tree with the erection of a bridge across the New River to make for a shorter trip from the Northern districts to Belize City. And to maintain and upgrade the new road, Castro is considering setting up a toll booth.

Edmond Castro
“The money that we can collect from such a road if we decide to toll it, we’ll be able to even pave this road without taxpayers having to cough up five million or ten million dollars.”

Janelle Chanona
“But you’ll only be able to collect the toll in the dry season. This surface won’t take too much wet.”

Edmond Castro
“Yes man, yes man. By the end of, in the short period of time if all the clearance is given, we’ll be able to drive, this will be an all weather road this year. Bridge is not that expensive. It’s not that expensive, most people think of a bridge in the millions and millions of dollars. They can step aside and I will put a bridge there and I can put a bridge there by the end of the year.”

But is the village ready for such a dramatic change in lifestyle? Crooked Tree’s village chairman George Guest says yes.

George Guest
“Vision brings progress. Progress brings tourists. Tourists bring the greenback. That’s all we need.”

Janelle Chanona
“But progress brings problems. The additional traffic, how will that impact let’s say the children that we see roaming around, the animals that we see roaming so freely in Crooked Tree.”

George Guest
“The animals are not supposed to be roaming around in Crooked Tree. Children will be controlled. The road will be controlled by the people of the village.”

Gerald Gillett
“We have to prepare for that development. So it is good. I proud of what is going on, happy about it. I feel much younger, I feel energized for go on into life now.”

With the road all but in at this point, the Forest Department, the Department of the Environment and the Ministry of Works will be meeting later this month to decide the next step. And those discussions should be very interesting because Edmond Castro is already planning his next project in Crooked Tree.

Edmond Castro
“Basically we will construct a nice playground, almost half acre to an acre of surface land, in the middle of the lagoon. This is again, will not be harmful to the lagoon or nature. It will be called the Crooked Tree National Park.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.

In addition to his road work projects, Castro is also embarking a job creation project for his constituents in Belize Rural North by constructing several tilapia ponds to promote small scale fish farming.