I am not a "Jeff Pierce" advocate, nor do I know all about him. I do know that Jeff and his wife are generous to the people of the island, whether it's helping out a single family, or donating to a cause. Perhaps not known to most people, but belive me, they are not just takers. I am aware of several incidents where they stepped up to the plate. And, I am not there to see it all.
I appreciate your concerns for the island. I think we all feel that way. Lets try to figure out a way to get some constructive efforts to have an impact on this.

Sweet jane I take a little offense to the statement you made. My family and I want to invest in Belize for a long term committment. It will be someplace that my husband and I will someday call home. We are very concerned about the destruction of the enviornment particularly the reefs. We saw what happened to the keys and thats how we found AC. We dive and when we do we clean up debris and this is what we teach our young children. I even posted Jeff's info and when there is a concern about something I go directly to the source. But being from the states we are limited in our say and try to do what we can. I have not seen any direction for "us visitors" to take in order to aid in this.

oh LOL LOL - i looked at nova's link again (cuz the description i read didnt match yours) and it is A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GUY!!

i changed my post to read "mr dhillon" instead, and took you girls out of it.

suecate - please take no offense, i meant nothing personal - i mentioned you only cuz i knew you had a unit there.

i just get emotional about stuff that seems wrong in the big scheme, especially when it impacts someone or something i feel strongly about. my intention was just to get people to be aware, so that when it has happened and is done, no one can say they didnt know anything was going on or they would have done something back then.

and - i also was hoping someone (more qualified than me) WOULD start or suggest something we, as visitors, CAN do...

Yo! You all can buy all the land that's left and keep it swamp. Most of the locals SOLD all their land (a long time ago), why can't the Gov't sell what's left????????????? and at the same time create employment and grow the economy. Monkey River has tons of wide open mangrove if that's your thing (and no people). Or better yet, we can make all the empty land that is left a big reserve and raise all the food, rooms and drink rates by 20 times so it can stay as it is. People would still come (less people more money).

SIN are any relation to Musa?

When I lived in San Pablo I kept my mangroves along the canal frontage and had a great ecosystem in the trees and in the roots. It was just beautiful. The parrots would visit, we had a huge bright green iguana and a bright orange one too. We had a crocodile that would hang around the roots. And that was a 50ft wide lot.

If conservancy groups are given the opportunity to purchase the bird cayes and cayo cangrejo so that they can be kept pristine I will be one of the first advocates running out there to raise the funds!

I love the natural wildlife, flora and fauna. I hope that we will be able to preserve some of it for future generations.

I am not saying no development, but it would be nice to have some enforced controls on development.

I did a long rant on this subject a while ago - I'll see if I can find it again.

People want to come and invest in Belize, but they want it to stay the same as it is. More people equals change and damage to the environment, you can't have one without the other. If you are truly concerned about the environment of Belize then stay away, and live where the environment is already decimated. You can't come to Belize and damage the environment with cruise ships, development, and all the other tourism, and then denounce the government for doing the same thing. If it wasn't for government allowing outside investors to buy Belizean land, you would have never heard of Belize, and never had the oppurtunity to visit and buy land.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either Belize is open to development or it isn't.

This is part of a development thread from the Belize Forums:
Amanda Syme said...
"I also believe that developers should be required to pay a developer fee that goes to the local municipality to help supply infrastructure to the community where the developer is planning to make his living.

It is nice for each development to have its own electricity, water, sewer, cable tv, internet systems and road - but shouldn't the folks that service these developments and resorts also be entitled to these basic services?

Currently on Ambergris Caye some of the development groups "chip in" - in some cases significantly - but there is no requirement for the developers to do this, it is simply a matter of choice. A developer fee would eliminate the need for ethical decisions to help improve infrastructure, it would be a requirement.

I don't believe that the developer fee should be onerous - maybe .25% (a quarter)of a percent of the budgeted development costs - payable over time as the project is developed. Of course as always the developer would be permitted to make heftier donations.

There are many cases of condo developments where the majority of the developer profits never hit the shores of Belize, and once the developer has sold out he is gone, never to return. The developer was able to make healthy profits, pay the required taxes, dust off his hands and leave the community in the same, if not in a worse infrastructural position than when he arrived.

What I mean to say is that when a condo development adds 30 "homes" to a community the roads are used more, the electrical supply, phone systems, cable systems, water systems etc are all now begining to be taxed (utilized) beyond their capabilities. But there is rarely any available funds for making infrastructure improvements, expansions or even maintenance.

Belize's taxation system is not ideal, and we all know that the hefty sums that are paid into central goverment are used to service many past debts. We need some of that tax money now to improve our basic living conditions. However, since that is either not going to happen, or will happen on a small scale - we need to find solutions to our present infrastructural needs and where we will garner the funds to pay these improvements."


SIN - I see your newspaper ad identifies you as an agent for South Beach Belize so it would be nice if you would be clear about your affiliations before asking people to consider your comments.

South Beach Belize is applying for a Fiscal Incentives approval - This is an application to the government asking for tax breaks or importation duty exemptions etc.


I understand the government wishing to promote development, provide jobs, produce more accommodations etc. - but I do think that developers should be required to provide the infrastructure to manage these projects - PLUS some types of community infrastructure assistance.

The issue is surely not whether development should be permitted at all. A quick boat ride up the island shows numerous developments under way, though I don't know where the visitors are going to come from to fill those already being built.

What we need is a proper planning and regulation authority, that both takes proper account of ecological and life style issues, is not unduly affected by financial considerations, and is incorruptible. The only way to approach these concerns is to separate the authority from revenue raising. A publicly accountable organisation with representatives from (inter alia) the ecology bodies such as Green Reef, and with regular (eg. monthly) open meetings, with all proposals to be published and maintained up-to-date on the web.

I don't know whether we technically have such a body or not, but if it exists it sure isn't effective. In addition to outrageous projects apparently being approved there is an atmosphere of secrecy about the whole process. We only hear about approval being granted after the event, which is quite improper.

"Uncle Buck" is wholly off target. Belize is and must be open to development, but that must not be at any price. I haven't come across anyone without a financial axe to grind who wants Miami or Cancun to be recreated here, let alone Las Vegas.