Monday, Sept. 5, 2022
“If I knew then, what I know now …” That is often the lament of some old folks, looking back on their life and what might have been.
As a nation, there are some big decisions that our leaders have to make, decisions that are so big in potential impact, for better or for worse, that it is deemed necessary for them to come back to the people for their guidance and approval. One such case was the decision to go to the ICJ. And such is currently the case with two mega-projects being pushed by developers/investors, and whose potential negative impact on the natural environment in parts of Belize, our precious Barrier Reef and our pristine natural habitat in the Manatee area, are being carefully considered by all who are concerned about the future for generations to come.
The developers keep arguing that Belize needs to follow the rest of the world and go bigger in ship size for economy of scale. They want to pack in the cruise tourists by more thousands to maximize their profit; all well and good. And shipping costs would be reduced for the cargo also, with more profits for the port. Meanwhile, up north in Sugar City, with new strategies to realize profits from the use of bagasse to generate electricity, cane farmers are battling hard with the giant investor, ASR/BSI, who wants to keep all the savings for themselves and their shareholders. So, savings, yes; but for whom?
We are a relatively small country, but with a huge variety of attractions on land and sea, and all amazingly within a short distance of our international airport, so a visitor can see a whole lot of what Belize has to offer in a single day, and all in the company of a warm and friendly people. That’s what makes us so unique. Small as we may be, we are something special, indeed. But the developers/investors are insistent that we have to bring in these big, monster ships, as other places are doing, or the cruise lines will decide to stop coming to Belize. Really? Is that supposed to frighten us? And they say it’s nothing to fret about; they just need to widen and deepen the access channel by dredging some 7.5 million cubic meters of material so that the big giant cruise and cargo ships can come in to the proposed Waterloo cruise terminal at Port of Belize. And it is almost the same down in Manatee with the Vulcan company, who will want to dredge a corridor so their ships can come close to receive the thousands of tons of quarried limestone they plan to dig out of the hills in Manatee to ship to the U.S.
Some Belizeans are red-eyed with the developers/investors’ promise of jobs, but many Belizeans are also worried about the lurking dangers to Belize’s precious land and sea resources, our Barrier Reef and the pristine natural terrain and wildlife habitat in Manatee which large-scale strip mining may destroy forever. Cruise tourism is not the only kind of tourism, and the tour guides in Manatee know quite well the value of what they have in nature’s blessings to preserve.
Economy of scale is a reality in business for profit; but bigger is not always better, especially when the target product can become seriously damaged or degraded and spoiled by overcrowding. In some cases, going too big can make one vulnerable to disaster. We do need to step back and think this thing out carefully, before we get badly burned, and end up killing our golden goose.
A good example of getting big and burned, is the case just over a decade ago of the Nova shrimp farm in Ladyville. Many factors were involved, and that’s a story in itself, but the fact is that the Nova Ladyville farm was quite profitable, with 27 production ponds in 1998. It ballooned to quadruple its size to 93 ponds in a couple years’ time, and a hurricane struck in September of 2000, with Taura virus following, and market prices soon nose-dived following 9/11. And soon Nova shrimp farm, by far the biggest in Belize, was no more. But its little Ladyville neighbor, Caribbean Shrimp farm, which was/is one-twentieth the size of Nova Ladyville, went through all that and is still going strong, focusing on a high-quality product, organic, to command top prices on the world market. As reported in this past Tuesday’s Amandala, they recently received certification from the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). So, if you’re small, you can go for quality and still make big gains. Where do we want to go, Belize?
It sounds like somebody is getting greedy, and maybe selfish, which isn’t strange. Belize has the largest LIVING Barrier Reef IN THE WORLD. And you mean to tell us that, if Belizeans are reluctant to risk damage to this World Wonder by dredging up millions of cubic meters of sea-bottom sludge to make room for monster ships, that the regular tourist ships will stop coming to Belize?
We await the deliberations of the NEAC; but if they make an about turn and are now inclined to favor the developers/investors, it would be wise of the DOE to hold a public hearing before signing off on either of these projects. After all, those quickly garnered 20,000 plus signatures for the “Save the Reef” campaign do mean something. And although COLA is apparently leaderless and dispersed, and the Opposition is in disarray, there is obviously a large, still quiet segment of informed Belizeans who, if pinched beyond their bearing point, like the nurses did a few days ago, may feel the patriotic urge to demonstrate their displeasure in the streets this September. In such a climate of intense dissatisfaction with the status quo, it only takes a spark, and a charismatic leader to emerge from the woodwork, and we could suddenly be witnessing the beginning of something new in our political climate, something outside the realm of PUDP.
But good leadership is about responding to the cries of the people with respect and meaningful intervention, as recently exhibited by Health Minister Hon. Kevin Bernard following the nurses’ walk-out demonstration. All is not lost. There is collective responsibility in Cabinet, which is where the final call will be made. And while a few voices have been strong and loud, others have been silent or non-committal. When the roll is called, some will side with the people, and others may take the side of mammon. Inevitably, Belizeans will do what they have to do, because “Only the people can save the people!”
Happy Tenth, Belizeans!