The following letters have been sent by individual property owners directly to the Chief Environmental Officer of the Department of the Environment, Mr. Martin Alegria. They are reprinted here with permission and with the suggestion that anyone else who has any objections to the new eco-guidelines or any of its provisions also make Mr. Alegria aware of them.

Mr. Martin Alegria
Department of the Environment
Market Square
Belmopan City, Cayo District
BELIZE

Dear Sir,

It has come to our attention that your office has approved  the “revised Eco-Guidelines of Pleasure Island Limited, a residential and commercial subdivision on Long Caye at Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize District,” submitted by Pleasure Island Limited some time last year.

We are writing to let you know that, as owners of real property on Long Caye,  we do strenuously object to many of the provisions of these eco-guidelines, particularly the ones that have nothing to do with protecting the environment, but appear to be included solely to protect the on-going interests of the developers, the directors of Pleasure Island Limited (PIL).

These guidelines were written without input from and without the informed consent of the existing shareholders, those who have, in good faith, purchased property on Long Caye and have been unable to enjoy their property because of the developer’s inability or unwillingness to develop the promised infra-structure. As purchasers of property on Long Caye we are fully committed to protecting its environment and helping to create a sustainable community. However, over the past 10 years it has become clear that the developers do not share our interest and this latest attempt on their part to indenture the property owners even more for what appears to be their own personal gain has made the situation intolerable.

The document makes reference to an Exhibit “A,” or “Masterplan,” and Exhibit “B” (“Additional Property”) and yet no such exhibits have been published or made available to the property owners.  The master plan that the purchasers of real property on Long Caye were shown when purchasing their property (and presumably approved by your office) indicates a channel and marina to be created in the center of the island. If that is no longer to be the case, it is our opinion that the developers misrepresented their claims and are still misrepresenting the ultimate plan for Long Caye and may be, at the very least, guilty of real estate fraud in this regard. The original master plan can be seen here: https://longcayebelize.wordpress.com/master-plans/.  And as of this date, it still appears on the Pleasure Island Limited website.

You should also be aware that some property owners are initiating an investigation in the United States to determine if PIL and its directors may be guilty of mail fraud and income tax evasion for soliciting and collecting funds in the United States and not reporting them to the Internal Revenue Service.

Here follows a recapitulation of some, but not necessarily all, of the grievances property owners have with Pleasure Island Limited and its directors:

  • Homeowners continue to be told they must pay maintenance fees for services promised, but not delivered.
  • There continues to be a lack of reliable accountability for how maintenance fees collected by PIL in the past have been (and are being) spent and no oversight on the “bookkeeping” by anyone other than PIL.
  • With no competition for “maintenance” services performed on Long Caye, and no accountability, there is no cost control and no culpability for incompetence.
  • Legitimate businesses currently operating on Long Caye (providing lodging, meals, guide services, scuba diving, and fishing) have been impacted by inadequate security, lack of adequate trash removal, poor maintenance of docks and piers, the looming threat of “maintenance” fees being raised and rules changing at the whim of PIL. 
  • The “vision” for the island seems to change with every new major investor PIL tries to bring on board. For example, the marina (and safe boat harbor) that was on the original “master” plan when many property owners purchased their home sites has, supposedly, been replaced with a “preserve.”  The southern end of the Caye, which was originally going to be the preserve, is now presumably destined for a very large “luxury” development and quite possibly without the indenture agreement impacting all home site owners on the northern end of the caye.
  • In spite of numerous promises to build boardwalks to all properties sold on the island, any further boardwalk development appears to have been abandoned, leaving many people with property they cannot get to.
  • With the present level of discontent and failure to develop adequate infrastructure, it is unlikely that the percentage of home sites “sold” will ever meet the requirement, established by the Eco-Guidelines, for the number of lots sold before PIL will relinquish control of the Property Owners Association to the actual property owners.
  • PIL appears to continue to operate in its own self-interest and not in the interest of the property owners.
  • A number of people purchased “shares” in PIL from Jackson Edwards’  father many years ago.   (Jackson Edwards is one of the current directors of Pleasure Island Limited.) Some of those “shares” may have been linked to specific pieces of property, most likely in the area that is now called Loggerhead, and may have been re-packaged and sold to others at a later date with no compensation or notification to the original “share-holders.”
  • A number of these transactions and subsequent transactions contained claims that did not really exist and/or promises that have not been kept.
  • So-called “quarterly” reports are lacking in substantive information.
  • The Caye continues to be used as the semi-private playground of the directors of PIL who trespass willfully on others’ property, build communal structures on private property for their own enjoyment, and use private property for communal benefit (burning of trash) without permission from or compensation to the owners of that property.

In closing, we strongly urge you to reconsider your approval of their actions and of these new eco-guidelines and to please wait for a legitimate property owner’s association to be created, one that represents the actual property owners and has a sincere commitment to protecting the environment, before considering any further changes or requests for changes from Pleasure Island Limited.

February 15, 2011
Belize Government, Department of the Environment
Chief Environmental Officer: Martin Alegria
Re: Long Caye Eco-Guidelines

Dear  Mr. Alegria,

I am writing you today to ask that you investigate the new eco-guidelines allegedly approved by your office on behalf of Pleasure Island Limited (PIL). I have reviewed the revised guidelines and while I don’t have an issue with the environmental safeguards in place, I am outraged that PIL feels they have the right to mandate these regulations on my property–property that I paid for with cash at closing–without even notifying me or, from what I understand, any of the other property owners. These new guidelines were never voted on by anyone but the directors of PIL.

I was skeptical about buying land out of the country because of the very situation that I am writing you about today. 

And now I am very concerned that PIL seems to feel they don’t need to do anything they have promised property owners for over 9 years, but still thinks it has the right to try to assess property owners new fees and impose new regulations. Some property owners still do not even have access to the lots they purchased from PIL ten years ago!

I humbly ask that you recant your approval of these new “eco-guidelines” and prevent any further regulations being made that impact the property owners on Long Caye until the property owners who own the land can vote and allow the majority to rule.  I pray that you are a just man and will do what is right for the people’s sake on Long Caye and revoke the new guidelines until such time that the current directors relinquish rights over to a property owners association that is actually governed by the property owners and not the developers.  

As it is an alleged correspondance from Mr. Alegria to the directors of PIL that seems to make PIL think they have the blessing of the government of Belize to indenture the property owners of Long Caye, we think this is an appropriate place to voice your concerns.  Be sure to include your name and your parcel number.

The address for Mr. Alegria is:

Mr. Martin Alegria
Department of the Environment
Market Square
Belmopan City, Cayo District
BELIZE

email:   envirodept@btl.net 

phone:  +(501) 822-2816 / 822-2542  (dial 011 first, from the United States)

fax: +(501) 822-2862

In order to make sure Mr. Alegria receives your comments, I would suggest using more than one of the above forms of communication.

You might also want to send a letter to Hon. Gaspar Vega, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment. His mailing address is:

Market Square
Belmopan
Cayo
Belize

Phone:  501-822-3286
Email: minister@mnrei.gov.bz

Also, at the same address, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment:

Mrs. Beverly Castillo

Her email address is:  ceo@mnrei.gov.bz 

Her phone number is:  501-822-2630  

For those who are interested, here is a link to the Belize Embassy in Washington D.C. and the Consulate in Los Angeles.

Additionally, there has also been a general request for: 

1)  Any documents or correspondence you may have from PIL or its representatives requesting (or demanding) payments of any kind or amount to be sent to an address within the United States

2) Any documents from any entity claiming to represent the property owners  or a property owners association by any name requesting funds on behalf of PIL. If you received these documents via U.S. mail, please advise us of that, as well.

We also encourage you to write to the directors of PIL directly letting them know of your complaints and concerns with the new eco-guidelines and/or their management of Long Caye.  We will be pubslihing more of those as we are notified. I would also like to encourage the directors of Long Caye to respond to the concerns of the property owners that have been expressed here and elsewhere.