Talking Cohune Industry - 10/19/21 10:38 AM
Hon. Kareem Musa is passionate about is a proposed Cohune Industry. It's something the Cabinet has approved and Minister Musa has already started to explore the possibilities - everything from skin care to food to electricity. He explained that there is already a company that uses the plant and he hopes to expand on what they've already done.
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries
"As you know, Cohune trees are very unique and they are something that is only a tree that's only found in this particular region. And a lot of people might not know that it has potential value and use. But I know that historically the Mayan people in the south of Belize have used the Cohune oil. And so we recognize the most valuable attributes of the Cohune. And there is a particular company headed by Mr. Rudy Castillo. That company is Cohune Ltd. And they've been doing work on this particular project now, going on 10 years. And so it's extremely valuable to see all of the potential that will come from this industry. So we're talking about the creation of products like skincare products from the oil, food products, using it as preservatives, adding value to some of our already delicious food like lobster and beef stew, actually putting it in cans so they will have a cannery, a manufacturing facility to put these items in cans. And that adds incredible value to all of these products. But there is also an environmental component to the Cohune, and that is utilizing the shell because it has such valuable biomass qualities that we're actually going to take the shell of the Cohune and create a plant over at this solid waste management authority at mile 24. They're going to generate electricity using the Cohune shell, along with the methane and the garbage at the dump site. And so it has a whole other value to it other than creating these new products. We're going to be using it to generate electricity and, of course, providing that to the grid.So it's an exceptional project as as presented by Cahoon Ltd. It has the buying of a lot of international partners as well. NexGen being the ones who will be doing the project for the electricity generation out of the U.S. And then there's also the Czech Republic, a company out of the Czech Republic which will be assisting with the manufacturing and processing plant."
We note that this isn't the first time we've heard of a Cohune biomass plant in Belize - the first one - under the UDP - never panned out - let's see how this one goes.
Channel 7
Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries
"As you know, Cohune trees are very unique and they are something that is only a tree that's only found in this particular region. And a lot of people might not know that it has potential value and use. But I know that historically the Mayan people in the south of Belize have used the Cohune oil. And so we recognize the most valuable attributes of the Cohune. And there is a particular company headed by Mr. Rudy Castillo. That company is Cohune Ltd. And they've been doing work on this particular project now, going on 10 years. And so it's extremely valuable to see all of the potential that will come from this industry. So we're talking about the creation of products like skincare products from the oil, food products, using it as preservatives, adding value to some of our already delicious food like lobster and beef stew, actually putting it in cans so they will have a cannery, a manufacturing facility to put these items in cans. And that adds incredible value to all of these products. But there is also an environmental component to the Cohune, and that is utilizing the shell because it has such valuable biomass qualities that we're actually going to take the shell of the Cohune and create a plant over at this solid waste management authority at mile 24. They're going to generate electricity using the Cohune shell, along with the methane and the garbage at the dump site. And so it has a whole other value to it other than creating these new products. We're going to be using it to generate electricity and, of course, providing that to the grid.So it's an exceptional project as as presented by Cahoon Ltd. It has the buying of a lot of international partners as well. NexGen being the ones who will be doing the project for the electricity generation out of the U.S. And then there's also the Czech Republic, a company out of the Czech Republic which will be assisting with the manufacturing and processing plant."
We note that this isn't the first time we've heard of a Cohune biomass plant in Belize - the first one - under the UDP - never panned out - let's see how this one goes.
Channel 7