Ara Macao Resort & Marina News from Placencia Belize

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

27 June 2007:  A phone call was received today from an independent contractor employed by Ara Macao asking (demanding?) that the historical information on this Website about Ara Macao be taken down because it is "misleading and inflammatory."  I have reviewed the information presented here, and all of it reports events as they occurred during the Ara Macao EIA approval process.  This entire process was a very significant one for the Placencia Peninsula and surrounding areas.  It occupied public debate for over an entire year, it brought Peninsula communities and people together, and ultimately has made everyone on the Peninsula much more aware of environmental and development issues.  It also raised issues that continue to need to be answered, such as the capacity and recharge rate of the aquifer that provides water to the people of the Peninsula.  For these reasons alone, the information provided here is important for the Peninsula, historically, environmentally, sociologically and economically. 

1 June 2007:  Justice Awich of the Belize Supreme Court denied PCSD's application to proceed with judicial review of the approval of Ara Macao by the Belize Department of the Environment.  Justice Awich also assessed legal costs against PCSD.  PCSD did not have the funds to appeal Justice Awich's ruling, although PCSD does believe that Justice Awich's ruling was in error.  A copy of the judicial decision will be made available when a digital copy can be obtained.

2 April 2007:  On Monday, 2 April 2007, the Peninsula Citizens for Sustainable Development (PCSD) filed a lawsuit asking the Belize Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the Belize Department of the Environment (DOE) approving the Ara Macao Resort and Marina development at the northern end of the Placencia Peninsula. PCSD also asked the court to grant an injunction to prevent Ara Macao Development Ltd. from proceeding with the development.

PCSD’s suit is based, in part, on DOE’s failure to comply with Belize’s environmental regulations.

PCSD also maintains that DOE unreasonably and irrationally approved the development because it did not have critical information about environmental issues such as downstream beach erosion, effect of the development on the Peninsula’s marine environment (such as lobster, conch and coral reefs), and whether Ara Macao and other new developments could quickly use up the water supply that provides Placencia, Seine Bight, Maya Beach, Independence and Big Creek with drinking water.

PCSD also argues that DOE’s approval failed to protect the public’s access and use of the 66’ public reserve on the beach surrounding the development, and that the development violates zoning for the area under the Mango Creek/Placencia Special Development Area, as recognized by Belize law.

A court date has been set for 20 April 2007 for judicial consideration of PCSD’s claim.

Donations to the Ara Macao litigation fund may be made by depositing funds into the PCSD account at Atlantic Bank, account number 100158838.

Donations may also be made by check made payable to the Peninsula Citizens for Sustainable Development, General Delivery, Placencia, Belize.

Money may also be wire transferred to PCSD, using the following wiring instructions:

Bank of New York
36-63 Main Street
New York, New York 11354
ABA#: 021000018

For credit to Atlantic Bank
Swift Code: IRVTUS3N
Atlantic Bank Account No: 8900545925

For further credit to
Peninsula Citizens for Sustainable Development, Atlantic Bank Account no. 100158838

Please note that if wiring from the US, this is NOT an international wire.  The funds are wired to Bank of New York which, in turn, transfers them to PCSD in Placencia.

The Peninsula Citizens for Sustainable Development is a Belize non-profit corporation and grass roots community organization of Placencia Peninsula residents concerned with the rapid, and often poorly planned and executed, development of the Peninsula. PCSD seeks to bring information about proposed developments to Peninsula residents to ensure that all developments are environmentally sustainable with respect to the fragile eco-systems of the Peninsula and its communities and cultures.

Please contact PCSD at 610-4718 or info@placenciadocuments.info for further information.

Public Consultation, 3 May 2006, Ara Macao Resort, Placencia Belize:  A public hearing on the proposed Ara Macao Resort & Marina (a/k/a Scarlet Macaw Resort and Marina) was held in Seine Bight Village on 3 May 2006 by the Belize Department of the Environment.

The hope-to-be Ara Macao (Scarlet Macaw) Resort developer, ioVest Development, LLC, of Chicago, Illinois, and its consultants seemed taken aback by the crowd of almost 300 local residents who filled the parking lot of the Seine Bight primary school.

At least that's the way it seemed when concerned residents found the developer and its consultants huddled in a very tiny pre-school classroom where 30 very tiny pre-school chairs had been solicitously placed by the developer.

(Or perhaps the developer and its consultants were well aware of the number of local residents who were concerned about the effects of the proposed Ara Macao Resort and Marina and selected the classroom as a way to prevent full public participation in the hearing.  But, no, that couldn't be . . . )

Residents became frustrated when the developers refused to move outside so that everyone could participate in the meeting. 

Fortunately, representatives of the Belize Department of the Environment finally arrived (almost an hour late) and persuaded the developers (with consultants in tow) to address Placencia Peninsula and Independence Village residents outside the school.

Concerns expressed by Peninsula residents at the meeting included:

• Beach erosion and sand starvation of properties south of the proposed development.

• Solid waste disposal

• Realignment of existing Placencia road into environmentally sensitive wetlands

• Waste water and sanitary waste disposal

• The proposed construction of two 9-hole golf courses and run-off of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides into the Placencia Lagoon

• Destruction of lobster, conch and fish habitats

• Effects of sedimentation from the dredging of the marina (1.2million cubic yards) and land reclamation on local coral beds, fish, lobster and conch habitats and marine organisms

• Impact on local cultures, local infrastructure and local resources (the 12 mile long Placencia Peninsula has one doctor, one nurse and 4 police officers to serve the entire area, schools are over-crowded and the area has no fire protection)

• Hurricane evacuation for residents south of the proposed Ara Macao Resort development

• Lack of available housing for new residents brought into the area by the development

• Disdain by the developers and consultants for the opinions of local residents

• Actual ownership of the property on which the proposed Ara Macao Resort development would be located

Placencia residents requested the developer and the Department of the Environment to hold additional meetings so that all questions could be addressed.  That request was met with silence.

Report from Observers: 

Account No. 1:  How I wish you could have been there to see how the multitude of people from the entire Peninsula were treated by our government and the developers. They changed the venue from the larger church to a tiny classroom with chairs fit for 6 and 7 year olds.  The DOE people did not even arrive for the 6:30 meeting until 7:15.  It was finally agreed to hold the meeting outside with all standing...a good idea as perhaps 20 of the large number could have squeezed into the room. Then Mrs. Fox, acting as spokesperson, politely greeted them and asked if we could please begin with questions to the department and developers as we had been studying the EIA and had already had meetings in relation to it.  This was not even acknowledged. They began a long drawn out explanation of what an EIA is, how it is conducted and then a full discussion of the developers plan.  I unfortunately had to leave, but I am sure you will get a full report on this insulting and demeaning treatment of the citizens of this peninsula.

Account No. 2: The organizers met early 5;30 pm at the beautiful new St. Alphonsus Church on the beach in Seine Bight.  A fresh breeze blew into the church and the few women & children there started to arrange pews, PA system, poster of acronyms, environmental posters, etc. A petition opposing the Ara Macao project was going around.

Suddenly the Chairman of Seine Bight arrived and told us all to move to the school, that is where Dept of Environment had set up. We packed everything up, loaded up the vehicles, some went on foot through the center of the Village. the signs on the road were moved, SB residents told people where to turn to the school. Vehicles from Placencia & Maya Beach were coming in now and people were getting confused, and angry, suspicious that the meeting was being sabotaged..

The DOE was not at the school, but the Ara Macao developers were.  People waited patiently for a while, and then began to get impatient. Some signs came out: "Get up, Stand up for your rights", "No Jobs for us", "No locals allowed inside" & others. We discovered that the developers had set up the kindergarten classroom with tiny baby chairs for us, the space could only hold about 12 adults; there were by now 200 people outside in the dusty parking lot, demanding a meeting. It was about 7:15 pm, meeting was scheduled for 6:30 pm. We decided to bring out a few of the baby chairs for some of our older folks and those with crutches & canes. We encouraged people not to leave, to stay for the meeting.

We were told the DOE was about 10 miles north at that time. We were getting angrier and dustier, most of us thinking the worst--the DOE went to the church which was deserted and left! I was holding a sign; a man (one of the developer's consultants) asked if I had a license to picket -- I was not picketing, I was practicing my right to free speech, protected by the Belize Constitution. I suddenly became angry--he was trying to intimidate me! I decided to raise my voice & let it be known--we have a right to speak, to be informed, to have our questions answered. That is in the Belize Constitution.

By then people were milling around & banging on the classroom wall that was set for the meeting--a few people were in there, the developers, maybe someone representing DOE or Coastal Zone. We demanded they come out & have the meeting. DOE had gotten there by that time and one of their guys came out tried to get us all to go back to the church, everyone refused, though a few towards the back did trickle over that way.

One of the speakers for DOE refused to begin the meeting until Police showed up. There were 300 angry people by then, from all over the area, Riversdale, Maya Beach, Seine Bight, Placencia, Independence, Dangriga. Maybe they were feeling intimidated. They shouldn't have gotten the crowd angry by moving them around for an hour.

DOE made their presentation, the marina developer made his presentation, the golf course builder made his presentation, the solid waste disposal guy made his presentation. The crowd listened politely for about 30 minutes then grew impatient--we all wanted wanted to ask some questions.

Finally, our turn.  Everyone spoke, made comments & asked questions, one by one into the microphone. Friends of Nature, Mr. Hulse, Area Representative Mr Ferguson (not received well, was booed, was asked "how much did you get?"), concerned citizens, doctors, IHS students, taxi drivers, local restaurant owners, clerks, grocers, shop owners, artists, musicians, hotel owners, many BTIA members, fishermen, Garifuna Council members, Placencia chairman, Independence chairman. Seine Bight chairman was not to be seen.

Everyone already knew about erosion from the big sand collecting walls (steal our beach), environmental damage to lagoon from golf course (kill the manatee), damage to reef & siltation resulting from dredging & "big boat activity" (cruise ship question was left unanswered).

The main questions were about environmental damage. These questions were glibly answered that their retaining wall stones would replace any lost reef for lobster homes, and the extra sand collected would be moved south by trucks so we could have some too; they would use siltation curtains. All of us knew those methods do not work, but it's a good thing many of us did our homework & could show scientific evidence for that. There really was no such thing as an environmentally friendly golf course for that sensitive jungle/ mangrove area by the lagoon.

I wanted to know --why no locals allowed? It's all over their EIA: casino--" local use discouraged", swimming pool, "local use discouraged", beach "private", and so on. They denied it, but someone from one of the local hardware stores came to my rescue with the EIA, and we made him, an "investor," read those very words, He kept saying "why would we do that"--I replied, "I don't know, because everyone is welcome to my resort, even you!"

We went on this way until after 10 pm. by then all were exhausted and we were promised another meeting in the near future. I have never seen so many angry people at 1 time on the peninsula in my 15 years here!

It was wonderful for the whole community to come together & support our fragile environment, fight for it. This is an eco tourism destination, not a cruise ship destination. We deserved to be heard. We were fed up these types of non informational situations arising that would affect our communities & lives, we were never informed, never consulted, until ads for Ara Macao plots were showing up in Belize. Why? We want information that could affect our lives, we deserve it and all of Belize deserves better protection from exploitation than that.

We would like the Department of Environment to protect our environment.  Apparently they have been selling rights to mangrove clearing left & right without assessing the situation here. There is a limit how much this ecologically delicate peninsula can take. I believe it is time to come to the legal end of mangrove clearing on the peninsula.
 

Status of Review Process for Ara Macao Resort and Marina, Placencia Belize  According to the Belize Department of the Environment, ("DOE") no approvals have been granted to ioVest Development LLC to develop a resort.  Final approval or disapproval is determined by the Belize government after receiving the recommendations of the National Environmental Advisory Committee ("NEAC"). 

NEAC required the public consultation on 3 May 2006 before considering the application of ioVest because of public outcries over the lack of information made available to Placencia Peninsula communities about the proposed development. 

The deadline for the official comment period after the 3 May public hearing was officially extended to 27 May 2006, and was again extended to 9 June 2006 to allow the developer to submit official information requested by NEAC. 

That deadline has come and gone, and as of 12 June 2006, the additional information has not been submitted by the developer, nor has the deadline again been extended.

PCSD has formally requested that we receive a print and digital copy of the additional information if and when it is received so that we can make it available to Peninsula residents and on this site.  As yet, DOE has not responded in writing.

However, at a meeting on Saturday, 24 June 2006, with the Honorable John Briceno, Minister of Natural Resources, the Environment and Industry, and other government representatives, the Minister stated that the additional information requested from the developer would be made publicly available both in print and via the Internet.

Minister Briceno also indicated that more than two (2) weeks would be allowed for public review and comment (as was the case with the original EIA and Appendix, totaling 577 pages).

All government representatives at the meeting, including Minister Briceno, gave their word that a decision has not yet been made on the approval or denial of the proposed Ara Macao Resort and Marina. 

21 July 2006

The Addendum to the Ara Macao EIA was made available to the public from the Website of the Department of Natural Resources  on Friday, 7 July 2006.  However, a hard copy of the Addendum was not made available until Wednesday, 12 July 2006.   And, the only hard copy of the Addendum available for the Peninsula was deposited with the Seine Bight Water Board.

The National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC) will meet to discuss the Addendum on Wednesday, 26 July 2006.

Following are links to Addendum Information:

• Addendum

• PCSD Comments on the Addendum

• Review of Addendum by Dr. Thomas Williams

• Summary and Recommendations of Dr. Williams

• Review of Addendum by E-Law

All photographs courtesy of Juan Caducio of Placencia Village.