Victory for Indigenous Communities

BELMOPAN, Belize, April 4, CMC – The Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, (SATIM), has welcomed a court ruling in the long drawn out battle to prevent a United States-based oil company drilling within the national park.

“The world has long suffered the indignities of oil development on indigenous cultures. It is time, and we have demonstrated as a community, as an organization, SATIM, leading the charge to say it is time to draw a line in the sand,” said Greg Ch’oc, SATIM’s executive director.

He said the case against the Belize government and the US Capital Energy in the Sarstoon-Temash National Park, which is also part of the communities’ land, is a good place to start.

SATIM and the indigenous people are saying not, here, not now, not this way,” he said of the lawsuit brought by SATIM along with four Mayan communities.

The Mayas had argued that their people have been kept out of the SATIM national park while US Capital Energy was being given the green light to operate on the land.

SATIM and the other groups claim that US Capital Energy has started exploration work within the park and has also included the Belize government in its legal challenge.

SATIIM says it is responsible for the management of the national park and is the legal representative of the communities that are joining it in the legal action.

The group claims that the company is preparing to drill for oil within the national park and has constructed a massive access road leading to that drill site within the park.

Courtesy: http://cananewsonline.com