Minutes BETA Meeting Weds. May 12, 2004
Meeting opened at 9:45am at the Radisson Fort George Hotel. Present were board members Mike Heusner, Godsman Ellis, Mick Flemming, Bruno Kuppinger, and Judy Yaeger, and guests Ian Anderson, new BNOTA president, and Kelvin Ramnarace, past president of BNOTA.
Minutes of previous meeting were read and discussed.
Judy said she’d try to cut a CD of the PDF files about cruise ships sent by Carl, for Godsman, Mike, and Ian.
In discussion of the cruise ship schedule, Kelvin mentioned that Noel Escalante had recently issued a newly revised schedule for 2004-2005; no one in BETA had received a copy, so Kelvin said he’d email his copy to board members.
Bruno said he’d send a copy of the Toledo District Waste Solution to Mick.
The issue of site carrying capacity was again raised. Kelvin reported that Coastal Zone Management was planning to implement new entrance and user fees on Goffs Caye, Rendevous Caye, and Sargents Caye, about $25US for each site, and that Maria Vega is currently getting feedback on their proposal. Mike said he’d contact Maria for details of Coastal Zone’s plans to find out the purpose of the fees and what the money would be used for.
Mick asked those present whether they felt that BETA should, in fact, be the organization that addresses the issue of cruise ships and concerns regarding the coexistance of cruise and long-stay guests to Belize. All members present agreed they thought that BETA was the appropriate organization. It was also agreed that it would be appropriate to seek the support of other NGOs that might have similar concerns. BAS, BACANGO, Green Reef, TIDE, TASTE, Sibun Water Shed, Friends of Nature, SWA, Frinds for Conservation, Friends of Gra Gra (?), BTIA, PACT, BHA, Coastal Zone, Cruise Ship Association, Belize Tour Guide Asociation, and Taxi Association were mentioned as other possible stake holders in this process.
Particular issues concerning mass cruise-ship tourism included:
1.“trampling effect”-- the need to look at carrying capacities and to disseminate people to minimize environmental and cultural impact that uncontrolled expansion can cause.
2. the negative impact of cruise tourism on eco-tourism
3. the protection of the reef/coast line, cayes, rivers
4. environmental degradation resulting from massive numbers of visitors
5. the beneficiaries of the cruise ship industry—who’s getting pieces of the pie?
Noel Escalante and Tracy Taegar have the responsibility of determining how many ships are allowed into Belize. Kelvin said that the cruise ship policy and guidelines, including stated carrying capacities, were developed by non-professionals who don’t necessarily know what they’re doing.
The importance of identifying issues and obtaining documenary evidence to back up any stance that BETA takes was stressed. Whether media should be used, which ones, and how, was left open. It was agreed that first we need to delineate our concerns, and get criteria put together to support them. It was also agreed that it would be appropriate to contact the agencies mentioned earlier to see if they want to join into this effort with BETA. Mick agreed that he would draft a letter to these organizations and get it out within one week.
Meeting was adjourned at noon.
Respectfully Submitted,
Judy Yaeger
BETA Secretary