Issues raised over monitoring fee for large-scale projects – very inadequate for environmental monitoring

The Government of Belize has given environmental clearance to Norwegian Cruise Lines to construct a US$50 million cruise destination island at Harvest Caye, and official Government sources tell us that the Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP) is being sent to the investor today, Monday, for signing.

Once Norwegian signs the document, signifying that it agrees with its terms, the company would have the green light to begin developing the private 75-acre island in southern Belize.

The Harvest Caye project will straddle two adjoining islands in the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts that had previously been approved for a resort development with an airstrip, Norwegian notes.

Norwegian would have to obtain the necessary licenses and permits from local authorities, including approval for dredging works. It would also have to pay an environmental monitoring fee to the tune of hundreds of thousands of Belize dollars a year, in order to offset the cost of environmental monitoring that would be required of the Department of the Environment.

We understand that the environmental community has expressed concerns that the monitoring fee is generally inadequate to allow the authorities to carry out the kind of environmental monitoring required by large-scale ventures.

A concerned environmentalist told us that in one instance, while the National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC), which is the multi-sectoral body charged with reviewing and appraising projects, had recommended a fee of roughly $1 per head for cruise projects, that levy was grossly reduced to about 25 cents on the dollar – a reduction of about 75%. For a major non-tourism enterprise, it was reduced by nearly 70%.

Our newspaper was told that because of the major reduction in the environmental processing fee, key agencies are unable to do “the proper work.”