In the past, co-management of protected areas has been based on somewhat of a gentleman’s agreement between the Government of Belize and non-government organizations. But there is a move to form a legal framework for that agreement. Stakeholders came up with a draft which was then submitted to Cabinet. And that’s where the problem began. […]
Fourteen high school and sixth form students were today awarded opportunities to pursue secondary and tertiary education through B.T.L.’s scholarship program. The twenty-second annual Scholarship Award Ceremony was held at the Radisson this morning, where thirteen students received high school scholarships and one was awarded a sixth form bursary. The scholarship committee, made up of […]
The expedited hearing of an application for an injunction against US Capital Energy was scheduled for this morning. SATIIM and leaders of Mayan communities bordering the Sarstoon Temash National Park had utilized every legal resource at their disposal to get the matter heard at this early date. They claim that US Capital Energy is pursuing […]
Attorney for SATIIM Eamon Courtenay is basing his argument on straightforward grounds. But, government attorney Denys Barrow says it won’t be all that straightforward, and he sees the claims in the substantive case taking this matter in all different directions. Denys Barrow, Attorney for Government Defendants “There are some things which are emerging in […]
Former Mayor of Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Moises Martinez is up in arms about the deplorable condition of the Edison Coleman Park. Built on the twenty-eighth of March 1993, it was a main tourist attraction of the most-western town in the jewel. The park provides the residents and tourists alike with a recreational area on […]
Ninety seven million volunteers worldwide belong to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Red Cross was founded to protect human life and health, and to prevent and ease human suffering. Different incarnations of the movement has been in existence for over close to a hundred years, but the Belize Red Cross […]
There will soon be a hatchery center for tilapia farming located in Central Farm in the Cayo district. That center will come courtesy of the Republic of China/Taiwan which today presented a check for six hundred and fifty one thousand seven hundred and twenty five US dollars to the Government of Belize. This sizable donation […]
The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre has launched a four year multi-million dollar regional energy efficiency project. The U.S. twelve point four million dollars Energy for Sustainable Development in Caribbean Buildings Project, which is jointly funded by a grant from the Global Environment Facility, the CCCCC and five CARICOM countries, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas […]
On September nineteenth the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an application for an injunction against US Capital Energy. The application was filed by SATIIM and leaders of four communities on the borders of the SarstoonTemash National Park. The oil company has built a large road into the park, has constructed a drill site and […]
On August first, SATIIM and the communities of the Sarstoon Temash Region wrote to U.S. Capital Energy asking the company to suspend its operations within the Sarstoon Temash National Park. That suspension was requested pending the hearing of an application for an injunction scheduled for September nineteenth. U.S. Capital Energy has responded, through its attorney […]
Former politician, Alejandro Vernon, in his capacity as chairman of the Toledo Alliance for Progress, has come out as a proponent for oil exploration in the south. TAP, as it is otherwise known, is a collective formed by the National Kriol Council, the National Garifuna Council and the East Indian Council which was registered in […]
U.S. Capital Energy has been awarded a contract to explore for oil in the Sarstoon Temash National Park. For several years, the co-manager of the park, The Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM), had gone to the courts, but their actions had only delayed the oil company. SATIIM is no longer the co-manager of […]
The Catlin Seaview Survey is organized by the University of Queensland and promoted by the Catlin Insurance Company. It is a global campaign and a race against time to study coral reef. In the Caribbean reef health has declined and that is why the marine scientists from the group have targeted the region. So far […]
In the south, SATIIM and Alcaldes of communities in the buffer zone of the Sarstoon Temash National Park have filed for an injunction against US Capital Energy. That injunction seeks to halt activities by the oil company within the park. Today SATIIM’s Executive Director, Greg Ch’oc, told News Five that the court will hear the […]
As far as co-management of the Sarstoon-Temash National Park is concerned, there has been no progress to report. The Forest Department’s stance is that SATIIM is persona non grata, and the NGO was informed of that via an official letter disallowing them access to the park. SATIIM’s stance is that the land in question is […]
The Ministry of Health has issued an urgent statement cautioning the public on dengue. The release is a result of severe outbreaks in the region including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras. In Honduras, a state of emergency has been declared after sixteen deaths from the virulent fever, and elsewhere in Central America more […]
Is government about to strike a deal with Norwegian Cruise Lines for a multi-million dollar development project at Harvest Caye? All indications are that it will even though government has been tight-lipped about the negotiations on the N.C.L. tourism project. N.C.L. is interested in developing a massive port of call on Harvest Caye in southern […]
The ghastly dump site at the eastern entrance of the City has been transformed into a transfer station for waste that is produced in homes, businesses, factories and just about everywhere. After consolidating the waste and separating recyclable materials, the next step will be to transfer the garbage to another site at mile twenty-four for […]
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, Lisel Alamilla, last week chided some N.G.O.s including SATIIM and APAMO for not signing on to protected areas co-management agreements. The Minister’s statement came following SATIIM’s announcement that it had been thrown out of the Sarstoon Temash National Park which it continued to co-manage over the years based […]
Romero said that while Alamilla, when she was Executive Director at Ya’axche Conservation Trust, would not sign the agreement with the changes made by Cabinet, she is now pushing the co-managers to accept it. Last week, the Minister said that Rancho Dolores Environmental and Development Group had agreed to sign but today, their Chairman, Raymond Reneau, […]
Blind since birth, fourteen year old Rowan Garel has taken on another grueling and if not the most daring challenge, that many others who are sightly wouldn’t dare. He has climbed Victoria Peak, Walked Across Belize and over the past weekend, Rowan took on a Dive into the Blue Hole. Family, friends and a host […]
Forestry Minister Lisel Alamilla has publicly burned rosewood, declared an amnesty which benefitted illegal exporters and then disclosed a deal which saw those illegal exporters getting back their rosewood. That deal supposedly involved exporters selling the rosewood and splitting the proceeds half/half with G.O.B. Condemnation notwithstanding, the deal was struck and the matter blew over. […]
Another hot-button issue involves court action by SATIIM and Maya Alcaldes against U.S. Capital Energy and the Government of Belize. This issue is the oil exploration which is already underway within the boundaries of the Sarstoon Temash National Park, as well as an access road to the drill site more than four miles long and […]
One of the largest environmental groups is taking government to court. The Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management known as SATIIM and four Mayan communities in the Temash National Park buffer zone are taking on the oil company, U.S. Capital Energy, for exploration works being conducted within the park. SATIIM is responsible for the management […]
While that action is before the court, there is another matter with SATIIM and the Government of Belize which will need to be resolved sooner rather than later. The co-management agreement for the park has not been renewed because the parties cannot agree on terms, but SATIIM maintains that they have rights over their communal […]
