Earlier this year, the government announced a Cabinet decision to reduce the use of single-use plastics and Styrofoam items over a one-year phase-out period. The intent is to decrease plastic and Styrofoam pollution. One of the key components to the phase-out is the cutback in the importation of these single-use plastic shopping bags and Styrofoam […]
Tonight we have part two of our report on Sargassum. Aside from San Pedro, residents of the Placencia Peninsula are battling with the awful stench of decaying Sargassum that has piled up along the beaches. Massive amounts of the Sargassum seaweed are covering miles of beach, posing a threat to the local tourism industry and […]
For the past months, Caribbean and Latin America countries have been feeling the negative effects of massive amounts of Sargassum which have washed up along the coastlines. Tons of Sargassum have covered Belize’s beaches including those in San Pedro and in Placencia. The decaying Sargassum not only releases a foul odor, but also a hydrogen […]
The Sargassum problem affecting coastal communities is getting worse. Villagers in Placencia, Hopkins, Seine Bight and residents of San Pedro have been battling with the stench and toxins released into the air. In 2015, a Sargassum Task Force was created to address the problem. That task force is responsible for creating a national plan and […]
Placencia Villagers are coming together to fight off the Sargasso attack. Like on the beaches of San Pedro, Placencia has been invaded by Sargassum. Besides the foul odor and unpleasant sight, the Sargasso produces a toxic gas which can cause health complications. It’s a problem that is putting the livelihood and health of the villagers […]
In recent years, as early as 2011, the issue of Sargassum has been on the front-burner across the Caribbean. Here, in Belize, it was first recorded in late 2014. This year alone, the Sargassum has caused at least two fish kill in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. But the fish kill is just one of the […]
The Organization of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector of the Central American Isthmus (OSPESCA) is hosting a four-day workshop in Belize to train regional fisheries technicians to do an assessment of lobster stocks in Central America and the Caribbean. The data gathered from the survey will be used to help make better fisheries management decisions […]
On Saturday night, torrential rains caused a portion of the Southern Highway to be impassable. Pictures show the bridge in Jacintoville, eight miles outside Punta Gorda Town, flooded with about five feet of water. Personnel from the Ministry of Works, Department of Transport and NEMO were on the scene monitoring and managing the situation. It […]
The official ceremony for the launch of the September Celebrations was held on Sunday in San Ignacio at the Falcon Field. The launch, which kicks off the celebrations for the two-hundredth and twentieth anniversary of the Battle of St. George’s Caye and the thirty-seventh year of Belize’s Independence, was celebrated under this year’s theme ‘Belize […]
Since the launch of the celebrations was hosted in San Ignacio, Mayor Earl Trapp also spoke at the ceremony. Mayor Trapp shared why Belizeans should celebrate the season and defend the eight thousand eight hundred and sixty seven square miles of Belize. Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio & Santa Elena “As we look back […]
It is the furthest island point east of mainland Belize and the country’s oldest protected wildlife site that is famous for diving and birding. Half Moon Caye Natural Monument of Lighthouse Reef Atoll is located fifty-five miles east of Belize City and is known as the home of the boobies. It attracts thousands of tourists […]
The Solid Waste Management Two Project, valued at ten point two million dollars funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, is being rolled out across the country since 2016. The project will see the closure of six dumpsites and the construction of six transfer stations. A component of the project, however, focuses on citizenry involvement for […]
Marine debris can be found in any ocean of the world, along coastlines, beaches, rivers and other waterways. It is a growing problem for both humans and marine life, around the world and right here in Belize. Scientists have estimated that there are over five trillion pieces of plastic marine debris alone. Just a little over […]
P.U.P.’s Cayo South Area Representative, Julius Espat, has taken a firm ‘NO’ to the I.C.J. Espat announced his position on the matter on Saturday via his Facebook page. Having considered both sides, Espat wrote, “I have looked at the two sides of the issue when it pertains to Belize and the I.C.J., and I am […]
Two years ago, in 2015, a plaque with the name ‘Belize’ which had been installed on the Gracias Adios Border Monument down south was reportedly stolen. The plaque was installed by the Belize Territorial Volunteers in February of that year but a few weeks later, pictures surfaced showing that the monument was without the plaque. […]
The responsibility of the Department of the Environment is to protect Belize’s environment from all sources of pollution—land, water, air and noise. And while a lot of work has been done to address land, water and noise pollution, there is still a lot more to do about the air. One of the ways that the […]
Late this afternoon, the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, SATIIM, issued a release critical of the government for being noticeably quiet on the issue of the Maya Lands Registry, as it relates to customary land usage and delineation. In August 2018, the village of Crique Sarco was first to present a map outlining its […]
Between late June and August, hatchlings, the young turtles that just emerged from their shell, are released. It is not very easy to schedule a release because it cannot be predicted exactly when a sea turtle nest will hatch. Like all babies, the hatchlings decide when they are ready. And similarly to a human pregnancy, each […]
A workshop with representatives from various government and non-government organizations, and private sector associated with Disaster Risk Management and Oil Spill Response started today in Belize City to validate the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. Since last year, the Department of the Environment began the consultancy process to ensure that the plan meets international standards. The overall objective is […]
Environment Minister Doctor Omar Figueroa and Minister of Tourism, Manuel Heredia Junior will carry out an on-site inspection of the controversial Cayo Rosario next week. The caye, which is located west of Ambergris Caye and is private property located within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, will be home to a multi-million dollar tourism project. NEAC […]
Cayo Rosario is back in the headlines tonight. The island is located on west Ambergris Caye and is part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve expansion where a massive development is being proposed. The multimillion-dollar investment already has an approved ECP from the Department of the Environment. It involves the construction of more than forty […]
The Belize City Council, with the help of consulting group, Grupo Innovoterra, is in the process of drafting a zoning ordinance for Belize City. It’s a document that will become legislation and used to specify the types of building construction and business activities that are allowed to take place in specific areas of the city. […]
The zoning ordinance looks on industrial and residential areas to determine the plans for the city. A big part of the planning also involved public spaces; and once the ordinance becomes legislation; the City Council will be looking at how the spaces are used. Rodriguez explains. Keisha Rodriguez, Urban Development Planner, Belize City Council […]
Three Jamaicans who drifted for twenty-five days at sea were lucky to dock in Ambergris Caye on Thursday morning. The men, twenty-three-year-old Romeo Lewis, forty-four-year-old Karma Beckford and fifty-year-old Noel Samuels, all fishermen of Westmorland, Jamaica, were reportedly spotted sometime around eleven-thirty on Wednesday night and the San Pedro police were alerted. The authorities went […]
During the months of May and June, Belize’s first Marine Litter Campaign was launched by the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute in conjunction with OCEANA and the World Wildlife Fund. The campaign focused on the global issues of marine litter and plastic pollution. According to Fishing Coordinator, Victor Sho, very little education and outreach […]
