In a press release issued out today, Wednesday, August 10, the San Pedro Town Council hereby advises all dock/pier owners that they must re-apply for their dock/pier permit before re-building or making any repairs. The Council asks for pier owners to visit the Ambergris Caye Local Building Authority at the San Pedro Town Council offices for more details in regards to this matter.
On August 3rd, Hurricane Earl made landfall in the country of Belize causing major damages in the mainland and in the cayes of Belize. Fortunately, the damages were only of material items and not a loss of human lives was reported, which we are extremely grateful. Ambergris Caye was one of the cayes majorly affected by this hurricane, since many piers/docks washed ashore due to the high and powerful waves that came with the hurricane.
According to Mayor Daniel, the collections of dock fees totals to at least $1 million dollars every year, monies that he hopes to gain jurisdiction for the island municipality. Currently, all the fees collected go directly into the general revenue of Central Government and distributed evenly countrywide; it does not come back directly to Ambergris Caye.
Mayor Daniel has applied for San Pedro to gain jurisdiction over this collection of fees with hopes to use the funds for the benefit of the local economy on the island that would include enforcing of rules to the maintenance of the piers/docks, clean up of beach areas and more rapid development of infrastructure.
