The Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage has organized the first ever debate on offshore oil exploration in Belize and this morning, the 5-member team from the Belize High School were declared the winners of the National Secondary School Oil Debate Competition for the Central region.

The Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage has campaigned over the years since its inception for a national discussion to take place on the development of Belize’s petroleum industry with particular focus on such issues as drilling in Belize’s environmentally sensitive areas and equity in the distribution of oil revenues.

In an effort to start such a discussion, the Coalition has continuously carried out several educational campaigns to simultaneously inform and educate Belizeans about oil exploration in Belize.

This year, however, the organization is aiming at what they term as “the next generation of decision makers and leaders” – specifically secondary school students – through a series of regional debates which will lead up to a national debate on offshore oil exploration in Belize.

The debates will be focused on oil exploration in Belize, specifically, its impact, including benefits and risks. The Central region’s debate, which was held today at the Institute of Creative Arts in Belize City, focused on the topic of the nationalization of Belize’s oil industry, and whether it would bring more benefits from oil revenues for Belizeans. The Belize Rural High School went up against Belize High School at the regional level.

It was a spirited dialogue in which both teams presented evidence to support their arguments for and against the nationalization of Belize’s oil industry.

After careful deliberation, the judges declared Belize High School to be the debate champion for the central region.

Amandala spoke with two of the members of the winning team after the competition had concluded, and they told us that they were elated to have won – considering the amount of work and time that they all put into the project.

Jordanny Williams, 16, a 4th form student, is the group leader. His team argued against the nationalization of the oil industry. He said that he felt honored and privileged to have been a part of the first oil debate. Jordanny was thankful to all their advisors who assisted the team, including the parents who volunteered, the faculty members, the school’s debate club and the other members of the debate team who represented the Belize High School.

Renee Schakron, 17, who is also in 4th Form, said that she is very glad that their hard work and dedication have paid off. In order to prepare for the competition, Schakron said that they did several practice sessions over a course of three weeks. She said that it was a great experience for them to have represented their school at the debate, and that it was a good opportunity for the school to receive a degree of public exposure.

One of the team’s faculty advisors, Dr. Maria Isabel Tun, informed Amandala that she was happy that her team had triumphed after centering all their energies, time and commitment on the debate over the past few weeks. She mentioned that practice sessions, mock sessions and research were the primary preparation methods that were employed in order to get the team ready for the contest. Dr. Tun told us that the students were selected based on their previous experience in debating, and their research skills. She also said that the victory means a lot for the new school. Dr. Tun said, “We are a young school; we have only existed for the last 3 years going into 4, so this is a major triumph for us. We know that we will be facing more difficult challengers later in the competition, but we will be ready.”

The Belize High School debate team now moves on to the semifinals, which will be held in January 2014. They will compete against the teams from the north, south and Belmopan to decide who moves on to the nationals. A total of nine schools from across the country are going up against each other to see which will emerge as the national debate champion.

One of the main objectives of the tournament is to enhance the discussion on Belize’s oil industry. The Belize Coalition to Save our Natural Heritage are the hosts, in partnership with businesses and organizations from across the country which have helped to sponsor the event.