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The proposed water terminal will be the main pier for loading and unloading of passengers traveling via water taxis.
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SPTC proposes to have a terminal that will house departments for the San Pedro Police, Special Branch, Immigration, Customs and will also house gift shops, snack shops, restaurants, restroom facilities, waiting areas with comfortable chairs, public address systems and a first aid station.
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Arrivals via Tropic Air and Maya Island Air, whether it be tourists or Belizeans traveling to and from the island can be easily tracked by the airlines’ flight manifesto. The manifesto has the names of every individual on any given flight. Arrivals by sea are unknown and untraceable. There is no manifesto and the various water taxis dock at various locations.
Not only because of security reasons but due to other considerations, the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) held a public consultation on Thursday, June 19th at the San Pedro Lions’ Den on its proposal to build a public pier. With minimal attendance, the meeting continued and the reasons as to why a public pier was highly important were discussed.
The first main issue was security. Security in San Pedro Town has reached staggering proportions. With a small police staff it becomes difficult to keep law and order when San Pedro holds close to 18,000 individuals at any given time. The tourism industry, now accounts for 28% of Belize’s gross domestic product, this is now higher than sugar, bananas and citrus, hence, the reason to protect our tourism product. When the general complaint by visitors getting off of the water taxi is that they are immediately accosted by drug dealers, one can understand that it is of high importance to protect what San Pedro has.
Secondly, Ambergris Caye has seen a major proliferation of piers on the east side of the island. Private piers are rented out to businesses and generate a monthly income which will eventually pay off the pier itself in a year’s time. If a public pier is constructed and if it provides all the pertinent and necessary amenities, then the demand for the construction of private piers is lessened.
The third point discussed was the fact that a public pier would generate much needed public funds, something that SPTC would be able to put into good use.
SPTC proposes to construct a pier that will be adequately designed to withstand a Category 3 Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 to 150 mile per hour winds and will also sustain surges of eight to ten feet. This proposal also highlighted the fact that the pier will house important governmental offices that will maintain order and keep track of individuals loading and unloading from the various water taxis. Off boarding passengers will be met by clean, safe surrounding with all the amenities of a port of entry. This pier will be San Pedro’s main port of entry and no longer will off loading of passengers in small piers be admissible once the pier is fully operational.
The pier will house departments for the San Pedro Police, Special Branch, Immigration, Customs, and there is a high possibility that Health will also be included. As in other ports of entry such as the ones found in other Caribbean island and Puerto Cortez in Honduras, the public pier will also house gift shops, snack shops, restaurants, restroom facilities, waiting areas with comfortable chairs, public address systems and a first aid station.
Where will the public pier be housed? On the east side of the island or will it go to the west? That sparked a heated debate since environmental issues were sighted should the pier be housed on the eastern side of Ambergris. Members of SPTC that were present stated that they would prefer the pier to be to the front of the island while the audience pleaded for it to be to the back. It was stressed that the input of the Department of the Environment was highly important. Others believed that before any decision is made more public input should be required. A vote was conducted and with a show of hands, twelve present, including Mayor Elsa Paz and Councilors, voted for the front, while 20 people, including Honorable Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, voted for the pier to be housed on the back.
Engineer and consultant for the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority Omar Mitchell attempted to appoint a subcommittee to further study the site proposals but no commitment could be made. The next step will entail receiving more feedback from the community and appointing the subcommittee that will further study the proposal.
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