Corruption by high ranking public officials already in office can turn a country like Belize upside down or worse, destroy it
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n Belize, money is believed to have changed hands with Prime Minister Dean Barrow and his politician friends having done very well for themselves.
Belize’s reef is the second largest in the world
Reportedly, the government hid the mining deal behind closed doors for three years, until it was too late to stop it. The exploration has already begun and it is observable.
Belize, by its own announcements, is an eco-driven country and a paradise of sorts for tourists worldwide that are linked to those kinds of places. Diving, sport fishing, fly fishing, hiking, kayaking, birding, photography and more.
So what’s up! Well, 96% of all Belizeans are against offshore mining
It seems the natives are restless and Belizean teachers, for example, have gone on strike to oppose Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s deal of having approved seismic surveys. These surveys, according to World Wildlife Fund: “. . . involve using airguns to blast shock waves through the water that are powerful enough to penetrate the seafloor less than one mile from the UNESCO Heritage site of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System.”
Offshore mining and ultimate decline in sport fish and these guys don’t have a job. And there are other consequences.
These kinds of surveys do not franchise a new technology. It is old, crude and has a devastating environmental impact
They have serious consequences for both fixed habitat life forms and transient fish during seismic surveying and unarguably impact, negatively, catch rates for fishers during testing periods.
What could possibly be worth risking thousand of square miles of marine life?
Can Prime Minister Dean Barrow and his politician friends justify robbing 190,000 Belizeans of their livelihoods? Is oil actually worth dead fish in a dead sea in a country robbed of its most precious resources?
UPDATE: Testing was supposed to begin today, but reporters from both the San Pedro Sun and the San Pedro Scoop have observed the “Northern Explorer” (seismic survey ship) beginning explorations ahead of schedule, fueling the widespread belief that corruption is at the root of this situation.
SOURCES: World Wildlife Fund, San Pedro Sun, San Pedro Scoop, Travel & Leisure Magazine, and Mexican and Belizian lodge owners
NOTE: Featured Image El Pescador Lodge, Ambergris Caye, Belize. Photo Yellow Dog Fishing.
