Minister Vows to Review NGO Concerns Over Mangrove Destruction

Minister of Sustainable Development and Climate Change Orlando Habet says that he will be following up on the recent call by a group of NGO’s for greater protection of mangroves. Yesterday, the Belize Flat Fishery Association BFFA led a press conference calling on the government to address what they say is massive mangrove loss due to development projects. The cited two such projects are Cayo Rosario in San Pedro and the works at Sand Fly Caye off the coast of Dangriga. Minister Habet says that he hasn’t heard of the group’s request, but that he would look into the matter as soon as possible. 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development: “It is new to me, I haven’t heard about it, but I will have to find out. But again,  many of these  owners of some of these areas believe that they can do things without getting the proper permits either from the Department of Environment or from Natural Resources. In this case, if they are doing the type of dredging then they have to get their permits from Natural Resources through the mining unit. So I’m not certain what has happened here, but I will try to find out as soon as possible.”

The BFFA was supported by the San Pedro Tour Guide Association, Oceana Belize, and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust (BTT).