For the last week OCEANA and other organizations in the environmental community have been calling on the Government to address the recently commissioned seismic surveys off the coast of Belize. Well today, they got their response. The Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum issued a press release today responding to and refuting many of the challenges OCEANA made in its letter last week.
According to the release, the seismic surveys will not have any long standing effects on the marine life in the surrounding area, and note that acoustic sound used in surveys will not affect a large area. The release also claims that many of the other serious claims made by OCEANA were not backed up by accurate scientific evidence. The Ministry insists that careful research on seismic operations was done in order to present accurate information for Cabinet's approval. The release also maintains that the Government has taken necessary steps to ensure the safety of the fishing and tourism industries by banning petroleum exploration near the barrier reef, the three atolls, and other World Heritage Sites.
So, while that's the back-and-forth between the Government and Oceana Belize via press releases, today, Chief Environmental Officer Martin Alegria granted an interview to the press in which he explained why the Multi-beam/seismic survey was given the greenlight from his Ministry without an Environmental Impact Assessment. Here are those comment:
Tomorrow you'll hear the other side of that story when OCEANA has a press conference to explain its side of the story.
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