Proposed Ara Macao Resort & Marina Fact Sheet

(a/k/a Scarlet Macaw Resort)

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.

Number of residents/guests:  12,892 people at full occupancy can be accommodated at the proposed resort.

Location:  just south of Riversdale, 628 acres, 1 mile oceanfront, 200 feet frontage on Placencia Lagoon

Dredging: 

·       Volume:  approximately 1.2 million cubic yards of soil will be dredged to construct the marina on the Caribbean side of the proposed development

·       Disposal:  used for fill on-site

·       Other: two breakwater jetties will extend 50 meters (164.4 feet) out from land, and will be 8.53’ to 5.25’ high

Buildings:  The proposed Scarlet Macaw resort will include 0ver 250 structures, including,

·       Hotel:  One 260 room 3-story hotel (private), 100,000 square feet of common area

·       Villas:  296 villas in 74 2-story buildings (private)

·       Condos:  458 condos in 38 4-story buildings (private)

·       Golf Course:  private (primarily for use of residents and guests)

o      155 acres, 59 private golf course houses, Clubhouse (private)

o      Two 9-hole golf courses

·       Marina: 67 acre marina for up to 400 boats of up to 100 feet), dredged to a 12-foot depth, including

o      Fueling station

o      Boat storage and repair yard (38,000 square feet)

o      Harbor master building (2,500 square feet)

·       Restaurant: 7,500 square feet, with capacity of 200 people, public

·       Pool:  one pool and 2 bars (private) (bars will be 1,100 square feet each)

·       Casino and Night Club:  106,250 square feet with a capacity of 1,000 people (local use to be discouraged)

·       Reception and Activities Centers: public,  two reception and activities centers (public) (38,800 square feet and 25,000 square feet)

·       Commercial Centers:  public, two commercial centers (320,000 square feet and 90,000 square feet)

·       Retail:  public, 5 retail shops and exhibition center (retails shops will be 50,000 square feet)

·       Employee Housing:  50 employee units of 700 square feet each, to house a total of 300 people (6 persons per unit)

·       Maintenance and Support:  4 maintenance and support facilities, totals 50,000 square feet, private

·       Macaw Preserve Exhibit and Labs:  5,000 square feet, public

Garbage: 

·       Volume:  100,054 pounds of trash per week based on a 70% occupancy rate of 2,978 people, 4.8 pounds of garbage per person per day (based on amount of trash generated in San Pedro per person per day).  At 3 pounds of garbage per person per day (average produced in all Belize towns and cities except San Pedro), Placencia Village and Seine Bight combined will produce 37,233 pounds of garbage per week with a population of 1,773 people.

·       Disposal Site:  Placencia dump

Water requirements:  

·       Volume:  2,275,000 to 3,526,150 gallons per week at 50% capacity; 4,550,000 – 7,052,300 gallons per week at full capacity. (Current monthly water usage by Seine Bight and Placencia Village ranges from 5.5 million gallons to 8 million gallons per month.  Scarlet Macaw, in contrast, will use approximately 14,104,600 gallons per month at 50% occupancy.)

·       Source:  wells to be dug on property

Waste Water:  minimum of 290,000 gallons per day

Vehicles:  up to 600 additional cars using Placencia Road

Electricity:  BEL, 15.35 megawatts (Placencia and Seine Bight currently use about 1-2 megawatts)

Hurricane Evacuation:  guests by road; boats in marina to be moved to Placencia Lagoon and Monkey River

Security:  Developer to provide own on-site security

Erosion Control:  coarse grained sand to be trucked onto site to spread over fine sand to control erosion into Caribbean

Timetable:  4 years to complete.   Development phases to be completed in following order:

·       Dredging for marina and canals

·       Building construction (not clear which buildings to be constructed in this phase)

·       Installation of utilities and wastewater systems

·       Construction of marina, pool(s), golf courses

·       Infrastructure construction (shouldn’t infrastructure be completed before buildings?

·       Landscaping and “site consolidation”

·       Golf course residential townhouses

Chemicals that may be used on golf course:

·       Permethrin which is a neurotoxin and is classified by the EPA as a carcinogen (cancer causing).  Permethrin is toxic to honey bees and other beneficial insects, fish, aquatic insects, crayfish, and shrimp. For many species, concentrations of less than one part per billion are lethal. Permethrin causes deformities and other developmental problems in tadpoles, and reduces the number of oxygen-carrying cells in the blood of birds.

Permethrin has been found in streams and rivers throughout the United States. It is also routinely found on produce, particularly spinach, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, and peaches. A wide variety of insects have developed resistance to permethrin. High levels of resistance have been documented in cockroaches, head lice, and tobacco budworm.

·       Benomyl which is highly toxic to fish (http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/benomyl.htm)

·       Imidacloprid which is highly toxic to canaries and acutely toxic to adult fish at relatively high concentrations (over 80 ppm) with juvenile fish being considerably more susceptible. It is however extremely toxic at low concentrations to some species of aquatic animals, including the freshwater crustacean Hyalella aztecais, and the estuary crustacean Mysidopsis bahia (a form of saltwater shrimp that provides food for seadragons, seahorses and pipefish).

·       Carbofuran:   granular form banned in the US because of very high toxicity to birds.  One granule is sufficient to kill a small bird. Bird kills have occurred when birds ingested carbofuran granules, which resemble grain seeds in size and shape, or when predatory or scavenging birds have ingested small birds or mammals that have eaten carbofuran pellets. 
Carbofuran is highly toxic to humans by inhalation and ingestion and moderately toxic by dermal absorption [5]. As with other carbamate compounds, carbofuran's cholinesterase-inhibiting effect is short-term and reversible [5]. Symptoms of carbofuran poisoning include: nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, sweating, diarrhea, excessive salivation, weakness, imbalance, blurring of vision, breathing difficulty, increased blood pressure, and incontinence. Death may result at high doses from respiratory system failure associated with carbofuran exposure. 

Carbofuran is also highly toxic to many fish.

·       Fluazifop-p-butyl:  Fluazifop-p-butyl may be highly to moderately toxic to fish.

·       Lambda cyhalothrin:  highly toxic to fish

·       Methomyl:  Methomyl is a highly toxic compound in EPA toxicity class I. It is classified as Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) by EPA because of its high acute toxicity to humans.  Methomyl is highly toxic to birds and aquatic invertebrates (such as lobster).

·       Chlorpyrifos:  highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and estuary (lagoon) and marine organisms.  Due to its acute high toxicity and its persistence in sediments, chlorpyrifos may constitute a hazard to sea bottom dwellers.  Aquatic and general agricultural uses of chlorpyrifos pose a serious hazard to wildlife and honeybees.  Chlorpyrifos may be toxic to some plants, such as lettuce [36]. Residues remain on plant surfaces for approximately 10 to 14 days. Data indicate that this insecticide and its soil metabolites can accumulate in certain crops.

·       Cyflurthrin:  Cyfluthrin is highly toxic to marine and freshwater organisms. Marine and estuarine invertebrates are also extremely sensitive to cyfluthrin.

·       Abamectin:  Abamectin is highly toxic to fish and extremely toxic to aquatic invertebrates.

·       Paraquat (Preglone):  highly toxic compound in EPA toxicity class I.  DANGER - POISON. Paraquat is a Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP).

Owner/Developer:  ioVest Development, LLC, a Chicago, Illinois limited liability company

Seller:  MacKinnon Belize Land and Development, Ltd., James Parker, President

Send comments to:

·       Belize Department of the Environment:  envirodept@btl.net
10/12 Ambergris Ave.
Belmopan, Belize
(Send by registered mail so that you  have proof of mailing – cost is $2.25)

·       Placencia Tourism Center:  tourism@placencia.net
General Delivery
Placencia, Belize

·       Reporter Newspaper:  editor@reporter.bz
147 Allenby/West Streets
Belize City, Belize

·       Amandala Newspaper:  letters@amandala.com.bz
PO Box 15
Belize City, Belize

·       Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment:  info@mnrei.gov.bz
Market Square
Belmopan City