Sun. 14 Oct, 2007
To the D.O.E.
I feel compelled to make some comments concerning the mass development happening on the Placencia peninsula.
Currently there are many, many very large projects that have been approved and are under construction. As far as we know, there has not been a project declined approval yet. It would appear that there never will be.
Every E.I.A. makes claims of how good their project will be for the area. All make claims of being perfectly environmentally friendly, with the latest and greatest equipment for waste disposal.
I am not qualified to make many comments on either the environmental aspects or the construction practices being used. My comments will be focused more on the associated concerns.
When you add up all the potential people these projects are hoping to attract, on any given day there could be over 20,000 more people on the peninsula! In my opinion, it does not matter if you have the latest “Zap-O-Septic 3000” system that will vaporize 100lbs of waste using only 1 gallon of sea water, or if you can make fresh water from air, or produce electricity from only a spoonful of gecko poop. When you flood the area with 20,000 more people, your environmentally friendly status is gone. And I believe the 20,000 figure is being conservative. Mass numbers of people are not the answer.
Jobs are not necessarily being given to the area workforce either. If you go to any job site and ask, you will not find any peninsula residents on the crew. They are bussed in every week. And ask any Placencia resident about the crime surge since this all began.
The tourist sites we rely on will be trampled and over run, if not regulated. Once regulated, it becomes a Disneyland atmosphere of waiting in line for your turn to see the monkey, but only for a minute as there are hundreds behind you also waiting.
Laughingbird Caye is already limiting the amount of visitors allowed at one time. What of the thousands of new arrivals wanting to visit?
Each project seems to be approved on a single basis. Are you keeping track of the accumulative numbers of people you are approving?
The proposed project at False Caye only adds to the upcoming mass hoards of people the developers are hoping will come. If their project is approved, think of the daily traffic getting 900 people to and from the Caye! A constant parade of boatloads of people, if the developers’ dreams come true.
I feel that you at the D.O.E. are single-handedly re-writing all the guide books. They will have to change their description of Placencia and Belize in general, from an eco-friendly, laid back, pleasant destination to one of hi-rise luxury condos with heliports. It seems that’s what you feel the people want.
Thank you for reading this all the way through.
Bill Taylor
Barnacle Bill’s Beach Bungalows.