Nestled off the coast of Belize, the laid-back island of Caye Caulker has long built its reputation as a low-key, tourism-friendly destination where pedestrians roam freely instead of congested traffic. But a proposed infrastructure project has now split local and national leadership, opening up a fierce debate over how to grow the island without destroying the natural ecosystems that make it a popular attraction.
At the center of the dispute is a plan for seawall construction and dredging work in the western mangrove zone, a critical wetland area that acts as Caye Caulker’s natural first line of defense against coastal erosion and dangerous storm surges. The Caye Caulker Village Council has issued urgent warnings about the project’s potential risks, outlining its concerns in an official letter sent to Belize’s Department of Environment (DOE). In the correspondence, the council stresses that the construction work could cause irreversible damage to the island’s mangrove forests, erode the natural protection the ecosystems provide, and block public access to the island’s waterfront areas that are vital to both locals and visitors.
The letter was also copied to Andre Perez, area representative for Belize Rural South, who has already publicly thrown his support behind the project and approved its progression. But the nation’s top sustainable development official says he has yet to receive the correspondence and will launch a full review to find a middle ground between progress and protection.
“I haven’t seen the letter. It hasn’t come to me. If it came and went to the Department of Environment directly I haven’t been informed, so maybe it’s something recent,” explained Orlando Habet, Belize’s Minister of Sustainable Development, in an on-camera interview. “But I will be looking into it, discussing it with the Department of Environment to see if they have received the letter, then how we can respond.”
Habet noted that any infrastructure project along Caye Caulker’s coast requires a balanced look at both potential benefits and drawbacks. “Just from the concerns of the community, if the seawall is there one, you have to see what positivity there is to it. If it avoids water from coming into the community during high storms and high tides. And then also looking at the negative side to it, because sometimes you build these walls and they’re not built [correctly] then it causes erosion on one side and the other. So but since I haven’t seen it I will have to address it to the DOE.”
The core question at the heart of this dispute is one that many small Caribbean tourism-dependent islands grapple with: How can communities grow and develop without eroding the unique natural and cultural character that draws visitors in the first place. As local resident Britney Gordon put it: “How do we find a balance between development and maintaining the part of the island that attracts tourists to it?”
For Caye Caulker, that balance is particularly critical. Unlike the busier, more developed neighboring island of San Pedro, Caye Caulker has retained a quiet, walkable identity that has become its biggest selling point. Habet emphasized that this unique character is worth protecting. “Especially Caye Caulker, I think that [the] council has also tried to see how they could maintain some type of structure within the community itself. And because it’s very touristic, we all know that if you go to San Pedro, it’s a lot more hectic. If you go to Caye Caulker, it’s a lot calmer. You can walk the streets and everything else. So you don’t want to see all those vehicles and golf carts where people are already accustomed to walk. So I think that there has to be a balance.”
Habet added that moving forward, relevant government bodies will collaborate with local municipal leaders to enforce clear building guidelines that preserve the island’s character. “My personal view is that I like to walk, and so I would prefer that it’s not congested as what’s now become San Pedro town [in] terms of the buildings. I think that the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing, which has a dedicated desk for the building codes, will be working along with the municipality to see how they can structure in some organization within it.”
This report is a transcript of a televised evening news broadcast, with Kriol-language dialogue transcribed using a standardized spelling system.