In the deep south, residents of San Pedro Columbia are vocal against the building of a hydro dam in their community. Research work has already begun by the company, Belize Hydro-electric Company, and at a meeting last Sunday called by the Ya’axche Conservation Trust, an assessment was presented outlining substantive damages to the area, including […]
The official opening ceremonies for the thirteenth annual Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation Congress took place today at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel. Delegations from the seven member countries convened in the River Hall room of the hotel to celebrate the start of what will create a network between the countries to strengthen conservation and […]
The debate is growing over a new piece of legislation that went through the House almost unnoticed. It is a bill to add a deposit of twenty-five cents to imports of beverages in glass bottles and tin went through a first reading in the House of Representatives on August twenty-fourth. The Bill is modeled after […]
The color change that occurred in the Macal River over a month ago is stirring up not only silt but the ire of Melvin Hulse, Minister of Public Utilities and NEMO. Hulse made some critical statements over the airwaves this morning that he would shut down a valve at Chalillo which would abruptly cease the […]
The recent discoloration of the Macal River where it meets the Chalillo Dam has been a major cause of concern for environmentalists. The Ministry of Health, the Department of Environment and Belize Water Services held a joint press conference today to inform that testing for water quality is taking place. In addition, they are investigating […]
The Macal River as it sits behind the Chalillo dam has its natural coloration. But the water that the dam is pumping out from lower level outlets is yellow oxide; the color of the clay sediments churned up from the river bottom. BECOL has blamed deforestation and xateros for the soil deposits in the river […]
Last week News Five reported on the controversial development in San Pedro Town by developer, David Mitchell. Mitchell is constructing a mile long road that will connect the east and the west of the island over marshy wetlands. The roadway will also provide access to two housing projects, one by government and the other by […]
But San Pedro is not the only community with environmental controversy. On Tuesday night, villagers of Hopkins in the Stann Creek District gathered to discuss dredging activities that are taking place on the western side of the community. According to them, for months now the works have been going on without any consultation with the […]
Gales Point Manatee Village is not only a home to the Kriol tradition but also to a large number of wildlife including manatees, loggerheads and the endangered hawksbill turtles. The abundance of wildlife prompted villagers to have the area declared a wildlife sanctuary on August fourth 1998. But since then the sanctuary has been surviving […]
The construction work that was occurring within Krooman Lagoon has stopped. The reserve is the only of its kind in Belize City and its importance as a catchment basin for runoff waters after rains has been established for years. Businessman Jitendra Chawla, the owner of Xtra House who is better known as Jack Charles, was […]
While fishermen at fish markets depend on their daily catch to make a living, others were banking big on the lionfish. Well, that’s all over, because the Fisheries Department says it is discontinuing the fifty dollars reward for the capture of the fish. And what’s behind this? Firstly, Fisheries, says that they now have over […]
The Azteca, a yacht owned by Mexican Billionaire, Ricardo Salinas Pliego ran onto the reef on April seventh. Pliego was on holiday near San Pedro when the incident occurred. The Azteca’s captain, Villeras Eckart, claimed he dropped the anchor in order to avoid running aground. The damage sustained to the fragile coral ecosystem was twenty-five […]
There are certain names that are just synonymous with controversy and San Pedro developer, David Mitchell, is one of them. This time, Mitchell’s mega project on the south of the island has come under scrutiny mainly because no Environmental Impact Assessment has been completed and at least part of the project is underway. And while […]
The Krooman Lagoon, the only reserve within Belize City limits, has been in the spotlight for the past month and it still is. Tuesday’s Cabinet decided that a portion of the Krooman Lagoon that was sold to Jitendra Chawla, the owner of Xtra House, will be taken back and Chawla would be compensated for the […]
Portions of the Krooman Lagoon Reserve were parceled off and granted to a Belize City Businessman. The Lagoon is one point five kilometers square and five hundred meters wide at its widest point. It still sits snug by its borders of the Western Highway, Crewman Lane, Faber’s Road and Antelope Street Extension. On Tuesday Cabinet […]
The Krooman Lagoon; it made the news since July fifteenth because it is a reserve that provides drainage for the old capital and it had been parceled off, leased and paid for by a well-connected businessman. Well today, the news coming out of Cabinet is that government has backed off from the sale and the […]
While Cabinet has decided on the Krooman Lagoon, the Belize Audubon Society has also agreed with the ecological importance of it as a reserve for species. But more importantly, the Belize Audubon Society is concerned of how it functions as a catchment area after the rains. Amanda Burgos Acosta, Advocacy Program Manager for BAS, says […]
Nine point six acres of land parceled off in the Krooman Reserve in the Antelope Street Extension area of Belize City and issued to businessman, Jack Chawla, for a potato chip factory has sparked huge outcry. The reserve, the only one in the city, serves to drain waters entering Belize City from the Savannahs. News […]
News Five broke the story on the hasty survey and approval of more than nine acres of land in the Krooman Lagoon Reserve to the owner of Xtra House, Jack Chawla, in June. Since then, the businessman has begun his development on the city’s only reserve that also serves for drainage. Jose Sanchez was back […]
Development projects that have any impact on the environment attract their own share of controversy. And this time the complaints are coming from the Placencia Citizens for Sustainable Development. And as much as it has to do with the Placencia Marina Ltd that can accommodate as much as two hundred boats , the group is […]
A Minister of Government has denied an allegation that land was being taken away from a non-governmental organization in the village of San Antonio, Cayo District. And the name being called is the Minister of Agriculture and Cayo Central Area Representative, Rene Montero. News Five got wind of the details a few weeks ago and […]
The Krooman Lagoon is located just outside Belize City. And as we reported last Wednesday, the lagoon provides drainage for the City easing the flow of water into the sea to prevent flooding. At least nine acres at the western tip of the lagoon has been sold off, it was not an ordinary sale, nor […]
And the Krooman Lagoon Reserve is not the only one that is under attack by developers. The inscription of Belize’s Barrier Reef on the list of World Heritage’s in Danger has done nothing to reduce the adverse impact of development in reserves. Last week, the Ya’axché Conservation Trust (YCT) came across a campsite with almost […]
A blue print entitled Public Resource and Use Plan was released today for the management and conservation of the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye Natural Monuments, which comprise part of the World Heritage Site. In June of this year, the World Heritage Site was placed on the danger list by UNESCO. But the Belize […]
On Friday we reported that government had reversed approval of surveys given for three parcels of land in the Swallow Caye Sanctuary just off Belize. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, there was not due diligence in the internal checks when the surveys were approved. But tonight there are fresh reports about part of […]
