Dear Editor,

I would like to thank Brother Colin Hyde for paying attention to my letter regarding the plastic ban in Belize. He states that I am all alone, but that is not a problem for me. All I would like to know is, if what I wrote “makes sense”, as we Belizeans put it.

I do not think the ban will affect him directly, because I don’t think he depends on the food vendors for his daily food. I am just thinking of the lower-end income-earners, since most of the restaurants that cater to the tourist sector already use these biodegradable products. Most of the tourists and upper-end income earners demand it.

To the worker or laborer who commutes daily and gets to pay more for food, there will be less for him or her to take home, and this affects family life considerably, trust me.

My family has a farm approximately seven miles from town and two miles from the nearest village, but the amount of plastic flying around is incredible. The farm animals do not consume these articles because they do not like the taste, or for whatever reason, only they know.

If these articles are made of corn or cane, they will be more edible to them, but at least 30% that is plastic will stay in their gut.

This plastic problem is a gigantic one, and only little Belize cannot solve it. All the best minds in the planet are working on it; only takes time until the “Creator” inspires us and we get the answer.

Regards,
Romel Cuello

(PS- A while back, when I wrote in defense of Dr. Manuel Esquivel, I was alone, too, but now I see even the courageous Ms. Audrey Matura calling him Belize’s best Prime Minister to date. Score one for me.)