I enjoyed my recent interview with Lori-Ann Murphy of El Pescador. After talking with her I did some more poking around on-line to see what I could find out about development or over-development in Ambergris.
The first thing I found was nice little video by Wil Flack, good friend of Lori-Ann and seemingly all around good guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSrWsFRPuQM?fs=1&hl=en_US
South Beach Belize… it sounds pleasant, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice to retire down in Belize… grab your rod in the morning after you’ve had your coffee and go and catch a bonefish in out your front door? It does sound nice. The downside is that they have to dredge the bejesus out of the flats and bulldoze the hell out of the mangroves to get that front door there. All those mangroves are where the fish live/grow/hunt. You nuke the mangroves and you nuke the fishing.
I don’t even know that much about saltwater fishing, but I can understand that pretty well.
This is what greed looks like.
Sounds like these guys have been botching the job since day -1 (and more).
You can seen the construction, right up against a protected area.
It is a little difficult to figure out what exactly is happening on the ground. I found the website for Ambergris Caye Citizens for Sustainable Development and their listing of the status of current projects. They seem to think that the project has not been green-lit, although it is easy enough to find folks selling South Beach Belize property.
It sounds like the project is on hold for now. Before you go and drop some coin on a little bit of raped and pillaged Belize, just think that these guys sold plots for a project that isn’t even in the bag. That can’t be good.
I have no idea, but I can’t get this video to embed in this post… here’s a link to a video called “How South Beach Belize Will Impact Ambergris.”
- If you liked the story above, check out these stories below
- Placencia, Belize... the bulldozers and dredgers are there now (0.449)
- Want to fish Bimini? (0.448)
- Development Trumps Bonefish (0.446)
Tags: Ambergris, bonefishing, Conservation, douchebags, El Pescador, flyfishing, Lori-Ann Murphy, over development, South Beach Belize
The Website for the South Belize Belize Development is located here:
http://southbeachbelize.com/ . The one you listed is a real estate agent that is not affiliated with the Development.
Thanks Paul, you are correct. I changed the link. That company was not the development company, but was selling plots in the proposed development (before the whole thing has been approved).
I blow both ways on this issue.when I first visited only a few thousand lived on the island , now thousands more.many of the present whiners are relocated carpetbaggers who snatched their piece,or came to rape the tourist trade.now they want to slam the door on others.la isla bonita can not & will not ever be as I found it!! perhaps think of jobs for your families & the community improvements the tourist & tax $$ have & will generate.PLEASE pick-up your garbage & litter before picking on a proposed beautifully landscaped developement which will generate more jobs & community income.but i guess some people enjoy poverty.
If you kill of the reasons why the place is special, what’s the point? Kill the flats and that life goes away and then all you have is some generic piece of beach just like thousands of others. Once it is gone, it is gone for good.