7 News Belize

FECTAB Still Chafed Over Chukka
posted (September 27, 2012)
Last night on this newscast you heard country manager for Chukka tours, Valerie Woods squarely accuse FECTAB of inciting the atmosphere that lead to the attempted destruction of their rappelling platform at Jaguar Paw.

Today we asked the crowd called FECTAB how they feel about that characterization - here's what they had to say:..

Tom Greenwood
"We didn't do it but we incited it, might as well say that we did it. It would be an act of total stupidity and illegal and criminal act on our part which would be - I can't use the right words in the media - but it's just flies in the face of all reason. We categorically deny anything with a stupid act like that."

Yohnny Rosado - cavetubing.com
"We didn't want any criminals to go and burn up Chukka, we don't want anything like that because we are fighting a good cause and so we want all the right things in our way. We don't want anything illegal done to them."

David Almendarez, "Cave Tubing R Us"
"We categorically deny this. This is contra-productive to the system that we are going. It doesn't benefit any of us to instill fear because all of us used the cave systems, all of us go in it and it would be stupid of us to try something like that."

Yohnny Rosado - cavetubing.com
"We ask the people out there who are trying to sabotage Chukka - don't do it, let them take it down themselves. We don't need to take down anything. They put it up there, let them move it smoothly. Just as how they do it overnight - they could remove it overnight. We don't ask for no criminal or no sabotage out there. We don't want that. We want the peaceful demonstration, whenever we ask of anything again - it comes peacefully."

And while FECTAB disavows any involvement or any inciting - they still remain firmly opposed to the rappelling platform and want it removed.

And now, they have a new battle cry. They are pointing to what they call a hidden walkway which goes right over the entrance to cave #3 - which again they say is causing a substantial hazard.

We have both sides of this particular dispute:..

David Almendarez, "Cave Tubing R Us"
"Basically we are saying to access the platform you need to go over the cave` to access - you don't drop out of the sky - you need to walk over a path that they made that leads over the main entrance and leads to the platform."

Tom Greenwood
"Should you end up with 15-20 people on a suspended walkway directly over the cave system."

Valerie Woods - Country Manager, Chukka Tours
"The trail that one uses to access to get to the platform is approximately anywhere from 25-30 feet away from the edge of the cave entrance below and is buffered by a rail which outside of the rail has many layers and barriers of natural foliage, trees and so forth."

"There is no such truth to the allegations just as there never has been to the rocks falling, just has there never has been to this rappelling platform is above cave 3 and so now they've shifted from that and saying it's not the rappel platform but now it is a walkway that is over the cave entrance. That is an absolute inaccurate statement."

Tom Greenwood
"Quite frankly I don't know how to respond because when you stand up at cave 3 and you see a line of people and you can't see the walkway but they know they've got to be standing over a walkway directly over the caves and you think wow! Something drops from there and then they access the platform one by one - where is the lie? What's going on here?"

Jules Vasquez
"They are foreseeable be in the queuing process someone slips and a stone becomes dislodges...."

Valerie Woods
"No, the trail to get here is recess beyond these trees. It's an inaccurate statement, it continues to be irresponsible and we will continue to denounce every time."

Yohnny Rosado - cavetubing.com
"We are not going to be quarrelling because what they are doing above us is the ultimate - it doesn't belongs there and we don't want it and the ask the government and the Belize Tourism Board to please check on it - there is a website named "Trip Advisor" let that website be the judge who is bad and who is the good because somebody on the bottom of us which is Chukka is number 20 on Trip Advisor."

"They are telling us that we are crazy and we have been giving a good service for the past 13 years non-stop, so something is wrong."

Jaguar Paw, properly known as the The Nohoch Che'en Archaeological Reserve id the most visited tourist site in the country.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize