Photo: Aerial view of Jane Usher community which sits near to Port of Belize Ltd. expansion project site
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 7, 2023
After multiple delays, the three-member panel tasked with reviewing the appeal by Waterloo Investment Holdings Ltd. of the Department of the Environment’s (DOE) decision to deny environmental clearance for the Port of Belize expansion project, is trying to get the work going with new private sector representative, Markhelm Lizarraga. The Appeal Tribunal and respective attorneys met on August 3rd, but only to address preliminary procedural matters. It will now have to consider a request for interested parties to be allowed in the process.
The request was made by human rights attorney Leslie Mendez. In the letter dated August 3, Mendez asks Chairperson Hon. Justice Patricia Farnese, that the Belize Federation of Fishers (BFF) and Latonya Gonguez Polonio and other members of the Jane Usher community be allowed to participate in the appeal process.
Mendez tells High Court Justice Farnese that, “While not expressly provided for in the [Environmental Impact Assessment] Regulations, it is our view that the power of the Tribunal to make rules regulating its procedure includes the power to allow the intervention of those who are likely to be directly impacted by the Project under review. As its task is to determine what is ‘just and equitable’, the Tribunal should be able to admit evidence or add any party that may assist its determination.”
Mendez proceeds to outline the reasons why the BFF and community members should be allowed to participate. In the case of the BFF, she notes that it is an NGO which represents twelve fishing organizations country-wide whose “livelihoods stand to be directly affected by the project. The mission of the Federation is to work towards the overall conservation of marine resources with an emphasis on sustainable fish harvesting and supporting sustainable fishing communities.” Mendez tells Justice Farnese that the BFF can contribute valuable information to the Tribunal on the views and concerns of fisherfolk about threats the project represents for overall fishing supply and about associated risks when it comes to dredging and land reclamation proposed as part of the project.
With the Jane Usher community being in closest proximity to the project, Mendez writes that they too can provide “valuable information on the adequacy of the consultations conducted by the Appellant, as well as their concerns about the Project’s social, economic and environmental impact on their community.”
The driving force behind this latest development is the UBAD Educational Foundation (UEF) which has been advocating since 2020 for there to be meaningful engagement of community residents who stand to be most affected by Waterloo’s project. UEF went into the community to gauge residents’ knowledge of the project and held multiple information sessions about the BZ $400 million cruise port terminal and cargo expansion proposal. It also participated at the public hearings held for the project. Today, UEF Chairperson YaYa Marin Coleman told Amandala that they sought funding to support Belizeans who stand to be directly impacted if the project is granted in full or in part. She informed, “We have community partners who are supportive of Belizeans. We approached attorney Leslie Mendez and she agreed, on behalf of these two particular groups of people in Belize, to send a letter to the tribunal on the 3rd.”
Marin Coleman emphasized that with Belize’s recent ratification of the Escazú agreement “it is important for Belizean people to be active in processes as it relates to the environment and people’s lives.”