One more public pressure issue has been offshore drilling. In the past there weeks, The Association of Protected Areas Management Organization, the Citizens for Liberation through action and the Oceana foundation have all come out against Offshore Oil exploration. They want a ban on it, even as concessions have been granted all along Belize's coast. That's after the epic disaster of the Gulf Of Mexico where millions of gallons of crude oil have spilled into the sea and are now fouling the gulf coast. But the Prime Minister today said that the evidence of that disaster alone has not been enough to convince his government to ban offshore exploration.
PM Dean Barrow
"My sense is that, that was an avoidable error. There is a degree of negligence, there is a degree of conflict in terms of the chain of command and who was giving the particular orders. It is a sobering experience. But to my mind it means that we proceed with extreme caution. It doesn't mean that we don't proceed. We clearly are a long way from any point at which drilling could begin to take place. We must be sure that before we get to that stage everything that needs to be done is done in terms of things like whatever the pre-preparatory exercises that must be gone through, that even at that level that nothing is done that increases any risk of any environmental fall-out. I don't believe that it is the proper thing to do to simply say that we threw up our hands and call the whole thing quits. I don't accept that. "
Jules Vasquez
"Is there a sufficient risk/reward, being that Belize is priceless non-renewable marine resources could be at risk? In the event of a disaster as has been proven can occur."
PM Dean Barrow
"But we are at risk in the event of natural disaster; we are at risk as a part of the normal process and rhythmn of life."
Jose Sanchez, Reporter - Channel 5 News
"Mr. Williams of Barrow & Williams is secretary for Princess Petroleum Limited, some NGOs are questioning if that's too close to the PM. Does the PM have anything personal to gain from that particular contract?"
PM Dean Barrow
"Man, you know me, the Belizean public knows me, I have nothing to gain from any contract. I don't operate in that fashion. In fact I operate in completely the opposite fashion. I distance myself from any arrangement that in any sense could even begin to raise a whiff of impropriety. I don't play that, I don't operate like that. "
Jules Vasquez
"But are you not still a beneficial partner in Barrow & Williams and if it benefits Barrow & Williams would it not then also benefit you?"
PM Dean Barrow
"Any professional work that Barrow & Williams does will benefit me. Indeed I continue to quite publicly and openly draw a share of the profits. There can be no question of me or the Government of Belize doing anything for any client of Barrow & Williams as a consequence of the representation of Barrow & Williams. That is a given."
And while the PM endorses caution, APAMO, COLA and OCEANA seem ready to band together to force a reversal of that position. We'll wait and see...
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