OCEANA UPDATE. We have just gotten confirmation that now the position of the Government of Belize is that it was only collecting data to inform its position on offshore oil especially in light of conditions such as a cost benefit analysis.

But here's the problem with that position:

The data was not going to be simply collected and handed over to the Government of Belize. The Government was going to get a copy of the raw data and the agreed processed reports. However, the company, TGS, having expended approximately 6 million Belize dollars for both surveys, was going to SELL the data to recover its money. Who buys that data? Petroleum exploration companies. Why do oil companies buy data? To inform oil exploration. No company would spend money without an expectation of getting their money back. The Inspector of Petroleum confirmed this at the Government's presentation in San Pedro. The relevant section starts at time code 25:05 in this video.

This is not the ONLY opportunity to get the data that Government wants to get/says it needs to make a decision on this national issue. That an agreement was made with TGS without the public's knowledge and that it was being done by a company that was going to sell the data; and that seismic surveys started even before they said it would, it just means this was not the right way to go about any of this.