Copyright greaterbelize
Backlash Builds Over Silver Palms’ Bypassed Environmental Review The Silver Palms mega development, approved in December 2024, is set to rise in one of Belize’s most environmentally sensitive zones. Here’s the part that’s drawing scrutiny, it was greenlit through a Limited Level Environmental Study, a fast-track process that skips public consultation. Now, the Opposition is calling for full transparency from the Department of the Environment and the Chief Environmental Officer. They’re asking tough questions: Why wasn’t a full Environmental Impact Assessment done? Why were key NGOs left out of the loop? And why were objections from the Fisheries Department and the Ministry of the Blue Economy ignored? The Opposition says Belizeans deserve openness, not backdoor deals that could put our fragile marine ecosystems at risk. They’re demanding the release of all documents tied to the project, a public explanation from the Chief Environmental Officer, and a halt to any further work until a full EIA is completed and shared. Earlier today, News Five spoke with Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai to get his take on the growing controversy. On the phone: Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer “The project has environmental clearance, and it went through what we refer to as the Limited Level Environmental Study process which is process that is in law and it’s just below the requirement of an EIA. A terms of reference was prepared for it and the terms of reference was shared with key government agencies, those agencies that would have some level of permitting authority over some aspects of the project. The limited level study was conducted, and a report was conducted. A report was submitted to the DOE and we put together a subset of NEAC, the National Environmental Appraisal Committee. That includes representatives from the Mining Unit, the Forest Department, the Fisheries Department, and the Department of the Environment, and we had discussed and deliberated on the report and the recommendation was for us to grant environmental clearance under strict conditions. And so, we did that. This is a normal process, this is how normally project that are just below the threshold of an EIA are process within the DOE.” Isani Cayetano “Why was this process not subjected to a full environmental impact assessment?” Anthony Mai “According to the environmental laws, a project of this nature would have required an EIA if the size of the property would have been more than three hundred acres. In this case, I believe the project size, the property size was two hundred and seventy acres and so, it’s just below the threshold. So, that’s one of the main reasons. And then, the other reason is that really and truly this development, the owners of this development proposed a project that really, it was just a subdivision project. They won’t construct any of the buildings, the only thing I think they will construct is the road network. And so, according to the environmental laws, the project really doesn’t trigger the threshold of requiring an EIA.”
