The MCCAP project should have measurable effects on the barrier reef in the next 3 years, but what about right now? What's happening with that 40-foot French sailboat, "Termaji" stuck on the reef in front of Caye Caulker? Well, it's been there from since December 30, and it still has not been moved.
It is believed that the French National who owned the boat has already left the country, but the damage caused to the reef cannot be assessed, and the natural rehabilitation cannot begin. It's now over 2 months that the vessel has been there, and when we asked about it today, Ministry CEO Adele Catzim-Sanchez told us it will be on the reef at least a while longer. Here's how she explained why:
Adele Catzim-Sanchez, CEO - Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development
"With regard to the ship itself, we have done everything that we could have done to try to maintain the integrity of the boat while taking it off the reef system, but we've not been able to do that. We've made several attempts since the 1st of January to do so and we've invested quite a bit of resources in trying to take the boat off the reef. The next step is for us to invest in breaking the ship into parts, to dismantle it in order to lift it off the reef, so that it doesn't continue to compromise the quality and the integrity of the reef system. 
So, it's one of those areas in which you have to give and take. We are working with experts, because we have been looking across Belize to see who has the capacity to remove the ship. There is limited capacity that is available, because this isn't an everyday activity, so people don't invest in the equipment needed to move ships off the reef. But at the same time, we have found that we have had to mobilize teams of people. So we are working actually with the timelines of the people who we feel can be part of that team and that has taken some time. But we had initially expected that by now, it would have been off and so that is why we are going now to plan B of doing the dismantling to ensure that it comes off. That would take 17 continuous days of work and as soon as we finalize the contract with the team that will be doing it - it will be 17 days from then to which it complete the exercise."
The Ministry is working to bring criminal charges in absentia against the owner of the boat. CEO Catzim-Sanchez told us today that the Ministry is looking at legislation reforms to properly hold persons who damage to reef accountable for their actions.
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