HRI joins Belize Coalition to Discuss Oil with Minister Vega
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- Category: News & Events
- Published on Saturday, 01 January 2011 00:00
- Written by Healthy Reefs
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February 10, 2011
In an unprecedented on-camera session with the Belize Coalition working to ban offshore oil drilling and drilling within protected areas, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Hon. Gaspar Vega, faced Melanie Mcfield, who joined Audrey Matura Shepherd of Oceanna to confront oil development issues in Belize.
The minister was flanked by his department head for Petroleum, Geology and Mining, Andre Cho, and all met on the Adele Ramos Show in February. While the meeting was cordial and the parties agreed to meet again to discuss concerns off camera, questions were raised regarding the transparency in issuing exploration contracts. Melanie presented a financial model for offshore drilling, showing that the benefits to the Government of Belize would not kick in until 2028, since expenses for offshore exploration are very high and companies are allowed to recoup their expenses before anything is paid to the government. For a complete story, please click on the following link for the Amandala Newspaper article that covered the story.
http://www.amandala.com.bz/index.php?id=10876
