I feel like much of the emotionalism comes from the lack of consultation. The people have a right to participate in this before it becomes a fact and that did not happen. The only way left is through political activism. We must present the position with sufficient strength and zeal or not be heard.
Because of the way it was handled by the GOB this nationwide protest was the only way. There are points on both sides. Unfortunately the pro side has not been presented. By my public discussions with rig more people hear the pro side.
Unfortunately Rig has not really said how any of this would work (his view). If we could get past the sarcasm we could learn more. Simply saying your wrong as usual accomplishes nothing. I am not sure where you live but this my full time only home. I have watched the coast be raped from Cancun all the way down for the last 30 years until I am making last stand on North Ambergris Caye.
Cancun and Playa where I have also lived have lost most of their beaches and have no habitat left at all, only city. San Pedro Town has lost its beaches but for different reasons.
I would like to see a much more aggressive plan to keep any spill off the reef. Rig has said it will be too far out to be a factor which sounds like a quote from the PB response plan. Rather than argue maybe the industry needs to come up with a plan that works better. Even now in the gulf many feel there is much more that could be done to keep it off the shore and habitats and ours is much more fragile. They are having huge problems with virtually all the resources in the world at their disposal. I fear it would take at least 2 days to mobilize to respond to any accident, large or small. Thats not good enough in my opinion.
Belize is full of environmental groups due to the unique nature of the place. Without consultation about all they or anyone else can do is scream and shout and jump up and down until that consultation occurs.
Right now the objectives of the "movement" are to declare a moratorium until the issue can be examined (not by the govt only) and then after we get the facts in have a national referendum.
Its a correct position. There are two sides to the issue and unquestionably the govt needs the foreign exchange and unquestionably there is also a valid concern on the part of many concerning the environmental side as well. Denying that is pointless.
The govt is no doubt aware that raising the taxes does not work as we have so much poverty. I am happy to see the GST removed from basics and hope that helps ease the problem some. I would love to be convinced that we could do this drilling thing and have it work for us.
For those who may wonder no I dont believe that the laws of physics are different in Belize but to deny the "Belize Factor" is not wise. For those who have not worked here the closest I can come is its like Murphy's Law squared.
As I have said the main problem is that human error can undo all the science in a heartbeat and we must be able to respond if that happens, if we cant we need to think hard about if we should go down that road right now..