San Pedro Town, Belize – November 5, 2026: As Ambergris Caye sets its sights on large-scale future development, local residents and tourism stakeholders are sounding the alarm over a mounting unaddressed garbage crisis that threatens to derail the island’s readiness for the fast-approaching high tourism season. Litter is accumulating along major thoroughfares, including the popular route leading to the iconic Secret Beach, while unregulated illegal dumpsites have sprung up across northern stretches of the island, sparking fears over ecological harm, tarnished visitor experiences, and gaps in core municipal services.
The Ambergris Northern Alliance, a local community advocacy group, recently conducted a site tour of the affected northern zones, with president Catherine Paz emphasizing that the island cannot pursue ambitious growth projects until it resolves foundational public service failures. “The high season is weeks away, and we are simply not prepared,” Paz stated. “Our roads need repairs, our public spaces need thorough cleanup, and our demand is straightforward: prioritize basic services and core infrastructure for the permanent residents who call this island home first.” The alliance is calling for a published, consistent garbage collection schedule, full remediation of all illegal dumpsites, regular litter patrols across northern Ambergris Caye, and consistent enforcement of local waste regulations, noting that community members have waited for months for a formal, dated action plan from authorities.
San Pedro Town Mayor Gualberto “Wally” Nunez has pushed back on criticism that the municipal government has neglected the issue, noting that the council has been actively participating in ongoing community cleanup initiatives. He also pointed to a major April 2026 expansion of the town’s municipal boundaries that extended the council’s service responsibility to nearly the entire 25-mile island, a dramatic increase in coverage that has stretched existing resources thin. Nunez went on to suggest the timing of the advocacy group’s complaints carries potential political undertones, ahead of upcoming local electoral cycles. “We have made significant investments in new waste infrastructure, including multiple garbage compactors, one of which was donated by the Belize Tourism Board,” Nunez explained. “But covering almost the full island, after previously only managing the small town core, means we need additional heavy equipment and greater public cooperation to scale our services effectively.”
Paz firmly rejected the mayor’s allegations of political motivation, noting that community cleanup events have drawn participants from across the full spectrum of local political affiliations, including multiple party candidates who have volunteered for waste removal efforts since 2024. The longstanding nature of the crisis was echoed by Melanie Paz, president of the San Pedro chapter of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA), who noted that years of one-off volunteer cleanup campaigns have failed to break the cycle of recurring illegal dumping. “Waste management has been a persistent, systemic challenge for this island for decades, not just in outlying areas but even the central town core,” she said. “Our industry has run dozens of organized cleanup drives, but within weeks the dumping problem returns to previous levels without a sustained, structured municipal solution.”
While community advocates and the town council remain at odds over accountability for the current backlog, both sides acknowledge that waste management represents a defining, urgent hurdle for Ambergris Caye as it positions itself as a leading regional tourism destination. Local residents uniformly emphasize that no new large-scale development plans can succeed until the island restores consistent, reliable waste services to keep public spaces clean for both residents and the tens of thousands of incoming seasonal visitors.