It looks like this planned barge was trying to go in illegally.
These are the minutes yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce
This time it will be many property owners fighting with lawyers, not just one family
Development of a new barge dock?
Chamber Members, Tom Cotton & Steve Adams, emailed to express their concern and find out more about what seems to be a new barge docking facility being created South of town and across from the Hol Chan Marine Park. Several pictures were sent of the mangroves being cut and preparations being made for the new construction. Terry Colbert shared that the paper had a comprehensive article on the barges moving from the Town Park Dock to a barge docking facility on the south end of the island owned by Varella. Terry stated that the article went on the say that the Eiley's (Caribbean Queen) would not be moving there and would be building a new docking facility one mile pass that on their private property. The Town Council had approved the move to the Varella dock to get the barges out of the center of town. But the article went on to say that the Town was not aware of any dredging, and any permission to dredge would have to come from Belmopan.
A discussion ensued, with many strong opinions being expressed about the damage to Hol Chan, both from the dredging as well as the increased barge traffic. As the boats move or turn the barges there is a large amount of silt generated especially during low tide, so any silt created during that the time the tide is going out would be drawn right through the Hol Chan channel. The discussion went on to express the short-sightedness of just moving the barge problem further down the island and now just affecting a new group of people. There are resorts and private homes all along that area, and everyone knows that the front of the island is rapidly developing beyond a commercial barge enterprise. This would have been an excellent time to make use of the 3 million dollar port that was built years ago. Unfortunately at the time the port was built, smaller barges were being used, and the companies insist that it cannot serve the purpose for which it was intended without more docking space and dredging.
We will follow up, and hopefully have more information by the next meeting.