On Tuesday March 20th the San Pedro Tourist Guide Association (SPTGA) received the donation of a brand new Dell Vostro Desktop computer. The donation came as a result of a working relationship between Canary Cove and the SPTGA.
Presenting the donation on behalf of Canary Cove was Gilberto “Gil” Nuñez. Accepting on behalf of the SPTGA were President Phillip “Billy” Leslie and member, Robert Gonzalez. According to Gil, the donation came as a “Thank You” for the invaluable work that the SPTGA has been doing with Canary Cove in the placing and maintaining of the buoys along the beach in front of Ambergris Caye.
In speaking of the donation, Billy stated, “The owners saw the need of assisting us with a more updated computer so we can store our information and keep our files in tact. The association is greatly appreciative for the gift of which we will use very wisely. I know the owner personally and I know the activities director personally and I know that we will do many more ventures together.”
Earlier this year, the SPTGA and Canary Cove teamed up to place and maintain several mooring buoys along the reef in Northern Ambergris Caye around the Mexico Rocks area and in the outer side of the reef.
In speaking of the importance of a computer to the association, Leslie stated, “We are in the time of the electronic era. We have to maintain records of every person that has contributed to our organization; every person that has helped with labor. We have to maintain the list of tour guides and types of positions they have. Whether they are fishermen, snorkelers, terrestrial guides and so forth. There is a lot of important information that we need to keep that computers make it easy. Every year members have to renew their tour guide status. Within that process, we have to make sure that we get them recommendation letters; we have to make sure that they stay updated with their First Aid and CPR. The computer will certainly make our file keeping more effective and contribute greatly to the smooth running of the office.”
While the computer is a welcome addition to the SPTGA office, President Leslie encourages that much needs to be done to maintain our reefs clean and protected. “We have made different scheduled operations with international organizations such as Coral and Annie Aware who have assisted us in placing mooring buoys outside of our reefs. 
This makes things safer for our dive operators, as well as assists in the protection of our coral reef by making it unnecessary to throw anchors when conducting activities such as diving or snorkeling. Not including the moors around the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, we have placed 45 moors to date. The ideal thing would be that the whole reef should be equipped with mooring buoys so that we don’t have to throw our anchors. The challenging part of this activity is the maintenance of the placed buoys. They deteriorate, they have to go through rough weather, the lines may break, the buoys get sun baked, break and come off, so the maintenance is actually the expensive thing. With this said, we are requesting from every company or individuals out there that would want to assist us in maintaining the existing mooring buoys on that coral reef section, to step up and do so. We have to keep in mind that the reef belongs to everyone. We are doing our part but to be able to do it properly and efficiently we will need the participation of everyone, either be it financial or in kind,” said Leslie.
For more information on the SPTGA, send them an email to [email protected] or call 226-2391.
