How that BTL, BEL, WASA, the Port, International Airport, Tourism
Village, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., have been handed over or
sold off to private, foreign-owned companies or individuals, government
now seems to be looking for another way to raise money to service its
ever-increasing debts. Their newest "scheme" seems to be the long-term
leasing of national heritage sites. While the "sale" of Caracol is not
complete yet, the thought process involved in handing over complete
control of the development of a Maya ruin and a large tract of land
surrounding it, to a US investment group, is to say the very least,
ludicrous. This investment group along with a Belizean group (who will
do the restoration of the site) and the Government of Belize want to
restore and develop the Mayan City of Caracol. This investment group
will be allowed to develop the immediate area and the 20 square miles
surrounding the area, for tourism (i.e. tourism village, airport,
hotels, nature trails, swimming pools, bars or whatever they want).
While the restoration of the city is not in question, shutting out
Belizeans from the 20-square-mile area surrounding the city, and
allowing a foreign-owned company exclusive control of it, is.
We need to look no further than the tourism village in Belize City
to see the negative effects it has had on the local populace. Only
those well connected or willing to pay the price benefit, while the
everyday Belizean is hard-pressed to make a living from the influx of
tourists that visit the port each week. Is this the same scenario that
will be played out in Caracol? Cruise ship visitors spend an average of
$45 US dollars, while overnight visitors spend between $150-200 US per
night. How much of the revenue collected from cruise ship visitors to
Caracol will stay in the country? Judging from past experience, it
would be safe to say, very, very little. How many locals, if any, will
benefit from this or will a new runway be added in order to keep all
the profits in this group's hands? What about the local tour companies
and tour guides who are already making a living from trips to Caracol?
Will they no longer be allowed to include this Maya site in their tours
or will they have to pay an exorbitant fee to take overnight visitors
to this site in order for this "alliance" to get their rate of return
on their investment? Will the overnight visitor be so fed up with the
mass tourism of this site, along with the mass tourism of cruise ships
already starting to permeate the rest of the country, that they choose
another country and another Maya site to visit? The government is
already hard pressed to find any people or businesses that agree that
cruise ship tourism creates any real benefits to the local population,
so why do they continue to give them more ways to use our country for
their personal financial gains? And what gives government the right to
give control of a cultural site, which belongs to the citizens of
Belize, to the highest bidders? Why must they continually throw out the
baby with the bath water? Is the national debt so enormous, or our
elected official's greed so insatiable, that it has come to this - the
long-term leasing of cultural sites? Or is this to pacify one cruise
ship company that was granted an exclusive license, which the
government then also granted to another cruise ship company - (look up
the term "exclusive")? No matter the reasoning, it is wrong on any and
every level, and any government official who goes along with this
should be charged with being an "enemy of the state" and hauled off to
jail. Caracol belongs to the people and cannot be leased out
exclusively because of unbridled financial mismanagement, poor fiscal
restraint or lavish lifestyles of government ministers.
Why is it, when government pledges to help uplift Belizeans and to
give them a bigger stake in the tourism industry, do they continue to
be part of, or be the instigators of, actions that will only oppress or
remove Belizeans from the tourism equation? If this travesty is allowed
to run its course, Belizeans will only lose and a foreign-owned,
billion-dollar multi-national company will reap the benefits.
Please - Do stop the carnaval!
Hey, anybody wanna "lease" a reef?
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