AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Environment south beach development?

One sure way to manage growth is to develop a way to buy properties and put them in control of a conservation group. On Nantucket we did this through a landbank tax. Buyers ( exempting first time local buyers). pay 1% of every sale into a fund that buys proerties to keep "forever wild". When it was first presented people went nuts saying that it would kill the economy. Well, that certainly did not happen. The only way to control property is to own it.

Great idea. Sounds like that may be a way to go here. I know most counties here in VA have a rule that if a developer wants to build a project, he has to pre-build the infra structure, sewers, waterlines, etc, in order to prove that it will not be promised and not completed. Our area is also controlled by the Chesapeake Bay Act, and we are "told" where we can build by them, and it's done to protect the bay and it's wetlands as well as the rivers and streams. It hasn't stopped growth, but it has helped revive the bay.

Although it seems a good idea that more development on the island would supply jobs for San Pedranos, I would bet that almost half the current workforce is not native to San Pedro. Ask the store clerk next time you all are out, or the waiter, or the cashier at the bank. I've heard over and over, I'm from Orange Walk, Cayo or Dangriga, etc, and I came here to look for a job. I think its great Belizeans from all over can find jobs here but that also means that with each big development, not only will we see a rise of international residences and tourists but also a rise in the local population. Not only are we lacking in infrastructure (utilities, roads, police) for this growth but also affordable housing for these people who probably would be making close to minimum wage.

I don't think there is anything wrong with development as long as it has been thought through properly and local and central government can keep up with the infrastructure and are keeping the future of the island and the country in mind and not just 'what can we get out of this today?'. (man, thats a long sentence)

Right on, JZB. I think thats all any of us want for Isla Bonita!

And that is my point, if you stop development the young people will leave. When a place stagnates it goes backwards or dies. I don't want that to happen to my home. I am raising 3 kids here, I would love them to go out and see the world, but I always hope that they will settle here or nearby so that I can be a part of my future grandchildren's lives.

We are all concerned about the environment that we live in and the fact that the reef is a big attraction. We don't enjoy seeing the reef dying - which it has been doing for years - global warming and coral bleaching is so ugly. There are many groups attacking the environmental concerns on all levels.

This is a developing nation. When somebody has figured out all of their problems in their own countries I hope that a hand book will be written and handed out to all of the 3rd world nations that the 1st worlders keep flocking to!

JZB, all over the world people move to the thriving captial centers in order to make a living and send money home to their relatives. Of course working folks in this town come from all over the country, and yes, the world. San Pedranos from the "old" families are far outnumbered now. But once you live and work and call San Pedro home, you begin your life as a San Pedrano.

When I lived in Florida my friends would refer to the state as NEWMOHIO because so many people moved there from the New England and Central states.

If a family from Orange Walk or Cayo moves here and they produce babies, are these babies San Pedranos? Will they live in San Pedro, go to school here, be nursed here, and eventually get a job, get married and make a living here?

The people who live San Pedro are entitled to look at a bright future without being branded as "outsiders or non-San Pedranos."

I can understand a lot of people's views on this thread, and understand that their kids are grown and gone from the nest, or they don't have kids and are living for the "now." But I am concerned for the future of this island for the sake of my kids and grandkids, and the future generations of all of my fellow island dwellers.

We will continue to try and encourage local and central government to adopt some sensible development policies and enforce them.

they just need to be carefull or they will ruin it for those kids of yours!
i don't think they are.

LIVE THE DREAM. LIFE IS WAY TOO SHORT TO BE UNHAPPY.

Well said, Amanda. I admire your open mindedness, and I am encouraged by how you think.