7 News Belize

The Siltation Solution?
posted (June 15, 2016)

We first reported on the silt build up in the Belize harbour at the start of the year. Originally we suspected that it was because of the cold front and its north easterly winds. But all the cold fronts have blown away, and the problem has only gotten worse.

The Mayor of Belize City said Central Government needed to step up with 2 million dollars to solve the problem, but still there seemed to be no movement.  

But, today we learned that Cabinet has discussed the situation and monies have already been allocated for a dredging project to take place. Here’s what two members of cabinet told us today.  

Hon. Manuel Heredia - Minister of Tourism
"I don't know if they have started because as far as I'm concerned the go ahead has been given. I know that monies have been allocated and it is in conjunction with the village, BTB and the government of Belize and speaking with those investors they will be a lot of dredging to be done and if we cannot accomplish everything then it is our hope that from over there we can go step further. But definitely cabinet had given its blessing and I know that monies were allocated for that particular project."

Emanuel Pech
"How much monies?"

Hon. Manuel Heredia - Minister of Tourism.
"I do not recall how much monies but sufficient to be able to alleviate the problems that we have at this point."

Hon. Tracy Panton - Minister of State - Investment, Trade & Commerce
"The figure I think we're trying to finalize as I understand it the feasibility in terms of the total cost of the project. Government has set aside resources to begin the initial work. There is more work to be done in terms of understanding what’s causing the problem so that we can try and eliminate not just the symptoms but the cause of the problem. It's an ongoing process; our Belize Port Authorities is involved in that process. Our partners at the tourism village as well have lent some support to that project and so work will begin very shortly, some work has begun but I think we will see much alleviation of that situation shortly as possible; that's feasibly if it can be completed."

Emanuel Pech
"How shortly?"

Hon. Tracy Panton - Minister of State - Investment, Trade & Commerce
"I can't give a time frame; I'm not directly involved in terms of the technical aspects of the project. I know that it's very much on top of our agenda when we meet weekly at cabinet so I expect it to be done shortly."

No timeline has been given for when this supposed dredging project will commence. In the meantime, the silt build up continues to swell at the mouth of the Belize harbour.

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