Dump Still Stinks

While talks of a national garbage dumpsite are in motion, the future of San Pedro’s waste management program remains cloudy. In a press release published last week on News 7 Belize, the Solid Waste Management Authority is closing its current dumpsite on Mile 3 and creating a centralized storage unit for the majority of the nation’s trash. San Pedro’s garbage, which currently sits in a smoldering pile in the Mosquito Coast area, will be carried by barge and relocated to the new facility on Mile 24.The plan, while a step forward in environmental accountability, will take at least a year to begin.

“It has been going on for a while. I think from the previous government and they’re still going,” says Nano Guerrero, San Pedro Town Council’s Director of Waste Management and Health. “Apparently, this coming year things should be starting to move.” As nice as the prospects of a transfer depot for barge service may be, the current method of waste management on the island presents a mess that needs to be addressed on a wider scope, especially since there is no town solicited collection service north of Palapa Bar. “When you’re talking about the northern part, well that’s a different story. I think they do their own and burn it. Some of them bring part of it but some of them still burn part of their garbage,” says Mr. Guerrero. Town Council has lobbied to see an effective northern road subsidized by the GOB, but the process has been slow.

“They always give the impression that we have a lot of money and we can do things on our own. Which is not really true,” says Mr. Guerrero. “Maybe the island does generate a lot of money and the government gets a lot of it, we don’t get the fair share. All we are asking if we can get a fair share of the pie. It seems they all take San Pedro that we have money for everything.”

Besides this disconnect between Government and San Pedro Town Council, many environmental concerns exist. Burning trash in uncontained spaces causes irreparable biological harm. Even though little study has been conducted on the dumpsite’s ecological footprint, there is much speculation on the long-term effects of the dump’s synthetic depository.

Miguel Alamilla, Biologist & Manager of Hol Chan Marine Reserve, is conscious of the adverse effects caused by biological amplification surrounding the dump. “What happens is the plants would absorb those chemicals and make it part of their system,” says Alamilla. “The herbivores would come and feed on that which would be bacteria or small fish, and those are preyed upon by larger animals on the food chain. As you go up [the food chain] those persistent chemicals are amplified.”

Additional to the wildlife, the surrounding citizens face risk from the smoke. Efraim Bardalez, a general contractor working on a construction site south of the dump, is aware of the hazards posed by the San Pedro dumpsite. “Where I’m working if there’s smoke blowing [from the dump] we have to quit working,” says Bardalez. Even though the smoke usually blows west, changing winds carry the smell of garbage to residential areas. The wafting smoke towards luxury resorts and residential developments threatens San Pedro’s image as a slice of pristine paradise – the island’s top selling point for foreign clients. “Sometimes you get some complaints about the garbage especially when the wind shifts. When they burn the thing you know all the smoke comes in to the area,” says Guerrero. “It’s very rare when it comes closer to town. [It’s] more on the hotels in the south when the [wind] shifts from the north.”

The exponential population growth on the island in recent years is one of the reasons why the waste management program is difficult to regulate. New developments open the doors for foreign workers and retirees alike. Expansion has strained the Town Council’s waste removal services and the town’s fleet of five trucks circle every day from three in the morning till night. Often, there is not enough time to empty San Pedro’s many trashcans and dumpsters. Without any separation of the organic, inorganic, and recyclable the island’s waste management program must undergo a dramatic facelift in policy. Separating the trash is an expensive endeavor that requires education for all citizens. This will take time to implement and an increased effort and awareness for all. With years of little-to-no separation, creating the habit will suffer from growing pains. “There’s no separation. Everything goes in the dump,” says Mr. Guerrero. “They have no other options I guess.”

Article and photos submitted by Daniel Reed

New structures ‘unearthed’ at Belize’s Caracol Mayan Ruin

The ruins of Caracol are located in the Vaca Plateau of the Cayo District and recent studies performed by NASA have unearthed thousands of new structures using their most advanced technology. Utilizing NASA’s laser tools, researchers have discovered and illustrated in a 3D form, the complex urban centers built at the ancient Maya City of Caracol.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, May 11th, a NASA based group revealed information - which normally would take 25 years to collect – and was done over a span of 4 days gathered by using a technique called LiDar (light Detection and Ranging). Airborne LiDAR made research significantly easier, and faster, allowing researchers to see 'beyond the rainforest'. Laser beams emitted from a plane were able to penetrate the thick canopy that covers the site to reach sensors on the ground. The laser survey then produced images of the ancient settlement and its surroundings, covering a 200 square kilometre radius in just four days. “It is very exciting,” said Arlen Chase, Anthropology Professor at the University of Central Florida, where the data is being analyzed. “The images not only reveal topography and built features, but also demonstrate the integration of residential groups, monumental architecture, roadways and agricultural terraces, vividly illustrating a complete communication, transportation and subsistence system.”
This breakthrough and results of the LiDAR mapping project in Caracol are significant. A total of eleven new causeways, five new causeway termini, tens of thousands of agricultural terraces and many hidden caves were located.

The new developments have prompted Nasa’s researchers to recreate the Caracol landscape in 3D model so as to better understand the Maya Civilization in an effort to discover clues as to what may have happened to the maya empire in that era.

Currently in the state of excavation and restoration Caracol is the largest known Maya center in Belize. The largest pyramid in Caracol, "Canaa" (Sky Place), rises 140 feet high, and it is the tallest manmade structure in all of Belize. Since Caracol is located in the Chiquibul Rain Forest, there is a plethora of flora and fauna to enhance the true beauty of this magnificent Maya center.
Caracol is an enormous ceremonial center, perhaps the largest site in Belize.

San Pedro Town Council Honors Teachers and Medical Professionals

Teachers from the various schools in San Pedro and Medical providers were honored last night, Thursday May 13th at the Lion's Den. The teachers and medical providers got a chance to mingle with their peers over dinner and drinks. The night was fill with games, prizes and other activities that required active participation by all involved. Entertainment was provided by "Rompe Raja", local band. Congratulations to our teachers and medical providers in San Pedro. The major sponsor for the night was the San Pedro Town Council. Other businesses from the community were also instrumental in making this night a success.

PSA - Accountant General

The Accountant General’s Department hereby reminds ALL Pensioners that the submission of Life Certificate in the months of MAY and DECEMBER is mandatory.

Life Certificates must be duly completed along with signature affixed and certified by a Notary Public, Head of Department, Justice of the Peace or a Minister of Religion.

Life Certificates are available at:
• The Treasury Department, Central Bank’s Building, Belize City
• Sub-Treasuries in the Districts and San Pedro, Ambergris Caye
• www.belize.gov.bz

OCEANA: Offshore Oil Exploration is a Definite "NO" for Belize

Press Release – Oceana – May 11, 2010 - Oceana is opposed to any offshore drilling in Belizean territorial waters and says all it takes is one spill of the magnitude of the Gulf Oil spill for Belize to lose everything. The recently released map prepared February 2010 by the Geology and Petroleum Department has confirmed previous speculation that massive oil exploration concessions have been granted throughout the country of Belize. This map shows that even the territorial waters of Belize has been divided up amongst eight of the seventeen companies which are grantees of these lease.

Oceana is gravely concerned with the concessions already granted in Belize’s territorial waters especially seeing that they include declared reserves and national parks. A decision of this magnitude that can wipe out our tourism and fishing industry, eliminate our marine food security and devastate the viability of coastal communities, should be a transparent process with input from all social partners and the general public. It is therefore necessary for the Government to promptly explain the rational behind the massive parceling of our marine territory including areas encompassing our reef and atolls.

Oceana’s VP for Belize, Audrey Matura-Shepherd stated that “while we wish for our country to develop and progress we cannot do so to the detriment of our long-term survival. The recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana has shown us that even a rich and highly advanced country like the great USA is not equipped to handle such disaster, and thus this should teach us to proceed with much caution as one accident ten times less can wipe out our entire coastline and send Belize into an economic depression never seen before.”

In addition Oceana calls on the people of Belize to become more informed and involved in this issue since it will not only affect those living along the coast or near inland wells. The people of this country stand to gain very little from any oil exploration since as the recent disclosure of BNE’s operation and agreements have shown the bulk of the wealth from oil extracted does not remain in Belize. Belize as a country has not become any richer; nor any more developed as a result of the ongoing oil extraction taking place since the returns do not measure up to the risk taken. This risk is even more grave in our waters because of the ocean currents and the fragility of the marine eco-system.

Oceana calls on the Government of Belize to place a complete halt on all planned offshore exploration and to revoke all leases presently granted on our territorial waters.

(See Map Attached)