I attended the public meeting in town last night re the above.

I thought people might be interested to see my notes.

After the introductions there was a presentation and then Q&A.

My points arising in no particular order are:

- the plan is to replicate what already exists down south;
- there is real concern about the environmental effects of water extraction and sewage treatment up north from all the individual houses and resorts;
- a provisional loan of US$30 million as been agreed with the Caribbean Development Bank, which will be a ‘soft’ loan at low interest over some 30 years for the first phase of this project;
- Belize Water have purchased a circa 800 acre site somewhat north of the road across the island at Grand Belizean Estates. This site is at the back of the island and includes part of the existing lagoon;
- On this site there will be a new desalination plant and a sewage treatment plant and there is room for further expansion in the future;
- the first phase covers a linear pipework system from the Boca del Rio bridge up to around Blue Reef and it will follow the road/track route;
- hook up points will be located at each resort/home etc;
- the location of the treatment area is that far north because they anticipate further expansion of resorts and homes moving up the island over the next 20 years;
- they are planning 12 pumping stations along the first phase route;
- there are still a number of studies (including environmental assessments) going on although a good deal is already done and the final plans will have to be signed off by the Dept of Environment;
- they are planning to have all approvals completed in the next 9 months so work can start in mid 2015 and be completed by end 2016;
- they have no details at this stage as to the tariffs for usage but it was emphasised that this is a loan that has to be repaid over time;
- the concreting of the road will start imminently (according to a brief conversation I had with the mayor afterwards) and they will be leaving space alongside the new concrete road for the pipework to be installed later.

Be nice to know when they will finish the High School to Bridge section they started three years ago (?) but still haven't completed.

Water and Sewer expansion project to address unsafe sewage disposal on Northern AC

A second consultation was held on Tuesday August 5th for the proposed north Ambergris Caye Water expansion project. The event took place at the San Pedro Lions Den and presentations were made by the various consultants and representatives of Belize Water Service (BWS) Limited personnel. The purpose of the consultation was to update the residents on the ongoing work in relation to the $60 million water expansion project.

According to Fedrick Sandiford, Resident Consultant Engineer for BWS, the project has a proposed budget of $60 million that the Government of Belize secured through a loan from the Caribbean Development Bank. GOB has appointed BWS as the executing body for the project, meanwhile Dillon Consulting Limited was awarded the contract for the details and design services for the project.

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As part of the project an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is being developed to see what effects (positive or negative) the project will have on the northern portion of the island. That ESIA is being carried out by Jose “Pepe” Garcia of Tunich Nah Consultants and Engineering Garcia was very instrumental in the implementation of potable water to Ambergris Caye over 30 years ago. In his presentation, Garcia said that the current practices used by some residents and resorts across the bridge to get rid of sewage are not the best, and are contributing to the deterioration of the fragile environment. He further stated that water quality tests conducted in various areas off and on the northern portion of the island shows that the waterbed has had some kind of fecal contamination. Garcia explained that the project will seek to address existing environmental stress indicators as a result of current unsafe sewage disposal.

The final design is expected to be ready by early 2015, with tendering of project, expected to be done by mid-2015. The project is expected to start in early 2016 and will take a minimum of 15 months for completion.

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Click here to read the rest of the article and see more photos in the San Pedro Sun