Belize, Environmental Atrocity Planned for Lighthouse Atoll

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by jwing

.....
The Lighthouse Reef will probably happen and it will be bad. But it won't be as bad as it looks now. There's already an airstrip there. They'll improve that and claim that it is a 'sustainable development' choice.

A small, lightly used air strip on dry land. Suitabe for small planes only. Not a huge impact.

What Puerto Azul has proposed is a full on commercial airport, comparable to the current Belize International strip in size, directly on top of the reef. See their web site. Big difference. No doubt they will pounding pilings into the reef while thinking environmentally concious thoughts. ;-)

Hoefully, as you say, their plans will get erroded and the end result will be something radically less obscence. A small ultra exclusve boutique resort, done properly is fine, but the current plan is horrendous.

[captain58sailin]

Well, there is always hope for a hurricane.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by brantleychuck

Sorry to say but most of the anti development comments sound so self serving . Sit in your home all comfortable, AC, lots of food, restraraunts , drive a nice car, on nice roads, nice marina for the boat,health care ,have a JOB. ,no worries.
You folks need to understand you have this great life because of development , because you consume resources .
So arrogant to tell others what to do with there country, there land. This anti everything attitude baffles me.

This is a much over used cliche repeated without any relevance to the facts of a specific project. Well planned, responsible development is fine, but this specific project is an abomination. This is an objection to a specific ill conceived project, not an anti-everything position.

I lived and ran a business in Belize for many years. Still have interests there and spend some time there (just there last week in fact). So I'm not sitting in my AC'ed office engaging in some hollier than thou abstract rant. I know Belize well and have spent time out at Lighthouse, as well as the other atolls, it has been designated a World Heritage site with good reason, it is a unique ecosystem worth protecting.

[belizesailor]

Also, the "anti-everything" position held by some more strident environmemtalists is naive. To conserve sustainably you must create viable alternatives. If the local population is simply saddled with prohibitions with no economic alternative then the prohibitions will fail.

There are plenty of examples of responsible, sustainable development on the atolls and elsewhere in Belize. This specific project is not one of them.

[jwing]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

A small ultra exclusve boutique resort, done properly is fine, but the current plan is horrendous.

I imagine this is exactly what the developers want you to think. If they had started out with a proposal for a small, ultra-exclusve boutique resort, there would be much objection and they would have nothing to concede. So it sounds like in the war of perceptions, they have already won you over.

[barnakiel]

I think they are a self governing nation. Their decisions, their profits and their impact.

Similar and worse projects in all other countries throughout the world.

I care.

But I cannot see how this could look any other way given our mental set and our lifestyle.

b.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by jwing

I imagine this is exactly what the developers want you to think. If they had started out with a proposal for a small, ultra-exclusve boutique resort, there would be much objection and they would have nothing to concede. So it sounds like in the war of perceptions, they have already won you over.

Could be, but there are already small exclusive resorts on the atolls and other places in Belize so I don't think that would get much resistance.

[nolagal]

Belize Sailor thanks for keeping us up to date about this. As my captain is a cruising Belizean we are very concerned. We'll send emails to those Belizeans we know just so they know we're also aware and concerned. We had seen this on Huff Post.
For those who are posting - you should know that most Belizeans are proud of their eco-tourism and delighted when people visit their country. Large projects are usually not appreciated by the general public. Take a look at the "small cruise port" in Placencia and how the local people are against it.
We are away from Belize for this year but plan to return next though I'm already wondering why we left

[nolagal]

Belize Sailor thanks for keeping us up to date about this. As my captain is a cruising Belizean we are very concerned. We'll send emails to those Belizeans we know, both in government and out, just so they know we're also aware and concerned. We had seen this on Huff Post.
For those who are posting - you should know that most Belizeans are proud of their eco-tourism and delighted when people visit their country. But large projects are usually not appreciated by the general public. Take a look at the "small cruise port" in Placencia and how the local people are against it.
We are away from Belize for this year but plan to return next, though I'm already wondering why we left

[belizesailor]

You're welcome.

[captain58sailin]

I am sure the world could get by without another hotel. I haven't been back to Placencia since '95, my Wife and I come to Belize frequently and plan on retiring there. I loved Placencia on my first visit, however from what I have heard about the level of development there, I don't want to see it, because it would break my heart. We have some of the most beautiful sea side views in Alaska and they have covered them up with condos and hotels, I keep praying for a Tsunami to come and clean them off of the beach.

[brantleychuck]

Just watched a show about " Big Alaska". How many of you " I'm not against all development, just this one" folks would approve of the Alaskan highway, the pipeline, hell just building highways through all that pristine land. Be honest, if proposed today you would be vehemently against every single one. Just sayin


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[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by brantleychuck

Just watched a show about " Big Alaska". How many of you " I'm not against all development, just this one" folks would approve of the Alaskan highway, the pipeline, hell just building highways through all that pristine land. Be honest, if proposed today you would be vehemently against every single one. Just sayin


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Not true. Land based developments are less obtrusive in general. The impact of the trans Alaska highway, once completed, had a minimal impact. This development just by the virtue of location will have an ongoing detrimental impact.

Just because we can and have doesn't mean that we should or should continue.




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[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

I am sure the world could get by without another hotel. I haven't been back to Placencia since '95, my Wife and I come to Belize frequently and plan on retiring there. I loved Placencia on my first visit, however from what I have heard about the level of development there, I don't want to see it, because it would break my heart. We have some of the most beautiful sea side views in Alaska and they have covered them up with condos and hotels, I keep praying for a Tsunami to come and clean them off of the beach.

Placencia has grown a lot, but most of the condos and bigger resorts are not in the village proper, but further N on the peninsula. The village still maintains some local color and the Sidewalk hasn't changed all that much.

[captain58sailin]

That is good to hear about Placencia. The Alcan highway was built to address war time needs and most of it goes through Canada, it was and is an essential life line to Alaska, if you lived here you would understand the need. The trans Alaska pipeline was a very hotly contested project and the construction was brought to a stand still more than once over environmental concerns. As a result the pipeline has been operated for over 20 years with a minimal impact on the environment and while the sight of it is an eyesore, it does provide jobs for many Alaskans and an annual check for all residents. Trying to compare these to projects to a Luxury Hotel built on an environmentally sensitive island is apples to oranges. I would not try to tell the Belizians how to manage their local business. I would hope they could learn from Hawaii and other vacation destinations. The locals get the minimum wage jobs, like busboys or room maids, while the corporations reap the larger benefits, but they also take the biggest risk. There is always a trade off from any kind of development and the only constant is change. We could always go back to the barter system and downsize all the multinational corporations into villages.