U.S Capital says it’s G.O.B. who made the rules to EIA Consultation engagement
The environmental community has come out in full support of the Maya Leaders Alliance and the Toledo Alcaldes Association because of what they believe is a botched consultation in Sundaywood village. The meeting last week Thursday should have been to educate the public and respond to their concerns regarding U.S. Capital Energy’s desire to drill in the national park and communal land. The company’s P.R. consultant told News Five that they had no control over the function of the meeting. Niall Gillett told News Five via phone that the government itself set the requirements.
Via Phone: Niall Gillett, P.R. Consultant, U.S. Capital Energy
Niall Gillett
“We believe that the company did what was required to do to provide a place for the consultation that met the requirements set out by D.O.E. It is important that the average Belizean out there understands that once that is done, the company has nothing else to do with the consultation because it is now the responsibility of D.O.E. It is their meeting, they ran it and it was pretty much between them and the public and the company itself could not participate in any manner.”
Duane Moody
“In regards to Mister Greg Ch’oc, we noticed in the video we received that he was barred from voicing the concerns of I believe four villages that he was representing. Why was that done?”
Via Phone: Niall Gillett
“The company does not agree that he was barred. The point is that in the beginning of the meeting, Mister Alegria from the D.O.E. set out the standards of the meeting and I think; especially in the set of minutes that I sent you, it demonstrated clearly that he took much longer than he was expected to take and when he was asked to stand down that he refused. Again U.S. Capital has absolutely nothing to do with how the meeting is functioned. That has all to do with the government of Belize and how they had set the requirements. And it is unfortunate that those actions which probably took about seven minutes out of the entire five hour presentation has received so much attention. People have asked why does the company believe that the meeting was such a success. Simply because the company did what it was supposed to do and the response from the public to come and attend the meeting was overwhelming. The media itself has reported that almost or over a thousand people have attended the meeting and I think that if you are having a public meeting about an important issue, it shows that people do have an interest and they did come out to hear what was being said. And again it is unfortunate that that short incident with Mister Ch’oc has taken up all the attention instead of how well the remainder of the meeting went after that.”
March my Mayan people march to the pm house demand his resignation for incompetence and total failure to do his job.
D.O.E. is only looking the profits they can gain from U.S. Capital. Where is the money going, people of Belize are not benefitting from funds made from oil. Come on Mayan people keep protesting against the government and keep screaming louder, louder, and louder than does people in the DOE administration against drilling on your ancestral land and the Mayan people will not benefit from the drilling. I applaud you guys for your strengtht to speak your line.
EVERYONE WATCH THE MOVIE “AVATAR” TO SEE WHAT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE SUFFER IN THE HANDS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE HEADS IN THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE WORLD. This movie is based on Afro-Columbians who where killed by government forces in Columbia to take control of their ancestral land to drill oil.
U.S. capital knows for a fact that they would not get away with crap like this in the U.S.
@WOW…So you think all reality can be compared to a silly movie? How dumb. I guess WOW believes everything in a movie is true and happens on a daily basis.. I feel sorry for him.
Let’s face it, the love of money brings out the worst in humans, from every country. There have been horrible abuses, massacres and the like around the world for oil, gold, and any other profitable resources. It will always be so. We just should try to prevent it from happening here in the Jewel.
The law must be followed. If the law says no drilling in the park, that should be the end of it unless the law is changed in a proper way.
What minutes? the recording of the event and the power point , if DOE does not alter it now, clearly shows that no time limit was set and the point is that Greg was by resolution of four villages over fours hundred people asked to speak on their behalf and present the concerns of each village,. he was not even allowed to present the concern of one village, when he was assaulted. then the same DOE staff called in the police, who were reluctant to act because no criminal offense was committed… but a person’s constitutional right was openly infringed!
Thanks for the overwhelming support, but i plead to you, all Belizeans must do their part if we are to be treated with fairness and dignity while we demand that our rights be upheld. Let us join forces and let us demand or a more just government, lets hold them accountable together as Belizeans! This is not a Mayan Fight only, its a collective struggle for all Belize. We have had enough! Every channel of our lives are being affected from our National security Forces to our natural resources…join us Belizeans if you want to have a future….