Turning now to Placencia, where the coastline is disappearing, and residents say time is running out. What was once a slow environmental threat has become an urgent crisis, with tens of feet of beach already lost to erosion. Villagers fear what comes next, for their homes, their livelihoods, and the future of the peninsula itself. Tonight, we hear firsthand from a longtime resident who says urgent action is needed before the damage becomes irreversible.
Charles Leslie
Charles Leslie, Placencia Village Resident
“The beach naturally ebbs and flows. It would erode a little and build back. But over the past two decades it started to erode and not build back to where it was before. Over the past decade it started to rapidly increase. Over the past five years you can see where we have significant erosion. It is not only in the Placencia Village area. It is the entire peninsula. It has been a grave concern for residents in this area, especially beach front property owners. It has in my opinion reached a critical condition where something needs to be done immediately. I pulled up some pictures from ten years ago and I have seen about fifty to sixty feet of beach lost, easily fifty to sixty feet of beach lost.”
Paul Lopez
“In your view as a long time resident, what is the worst case scenario?”
Charles Leslie
“Monkey River, absolutely. We are pretending here that it cannot happen. But Monkey River was once bigger than Placencia. Monkey River was a town. When I was a kid that is where we use to go spend the Easter weekend.”
Erosion Alarm Prompts Government Action in Placencia
As waves continue to chew away at the Placencia Peninsula, government officials say they’re stepping in before the damage goes any further. After residents raised alarms about worsening erosion along the coastline, the Department of the Environment insists the issue is already on its radar. Officials have been carrying out studies behind the scenes and are now taking their findings directly to the people most affected. According to Environmental Officer Kenrick Gordon, the department is hosting a public consultation tonight in Placencia Village, giving residents a chance to hear what’s been learned so far, and weigh in on possible solutions to protect the fast‑disappearing shoreline.
Kenrick Gordon
Kenrick Gordon, Environmental Officer, Department of Environment
“The consultation is opened to the entire area, all the residents within the Placencia Peninsula, from Riversdale all the way down. I think it covers about twenty-four meters. We are trying to get buy in or the community’s input in terms of the results of what was provided from the project that we had initiated along with the community, both the Placencia community and Seine Bight Village. They have been working along with the University of South Florida. What we want to do is present the outcome of that study initiated over the past year and a half to see what the best designs or options are to address the issue of erosion that the peninsula is currently facing. We have seen on many occasions members of the community pointing that out, or complaining about the issues the peninsula is facing.”
With beaches shrinking and concerns growing, the meeting marks a key moment in shaping what happens next along one of Belize’s most vulnerable coastlines.
Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.
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