By Zoila Palma: During cabinet’s meeting on May 19, 2026, cabinet approved the implementation of a temporary six-month moratorium on the approval and construction of buildings exceeding 45 feet in height and/or greater than three floors within the communities of Caye Caulker Village, Hopkins Village, the Placencia Peninsula, and Sittee River Village.
During an interview with 7News Belize, Prime Minister John Briceno said that no new permits will be issued until the Ministry can determine the kind of development in these areas.
“We have already put in a moratorium through the Ministry of housing and also physical planning that we want to stop, we will not be giving out any new permits as it is until we can really determine what kind of development you want in these areas especially the more sensitive areas like Placencia Peninsula, I think Hopkins, San Pedro, Caye Caulker you know. I met with Wilderness it’s a very important NGO recognize worldwide for their high end tourism but also protection and they want to work down at the Sapodilla Caye areas and they’re saying they work with scripts again a very important research facility out of the United States and they’re going to partner with UB and they making the point that in that area they’re starting to see some development starting to come up and they said well we need to take a look on so I was saying yes but they will have to ask the department or the Ministry of Sustainable Development to take a look and say hold on let’s put a pause over here let’s see what we need to protect so yes I think that there is some justification but also it has to be balanced, it has to be measured we just can’t go to the extreme,” the Prime Minister explained.
Cabinet noted that the moratorium will provide Government with adequate time to undertake comprehensive public consultations and technical assessments regarding the impact of high-density and vertical development in these communities.
The post Prime Minister defends cabinet’s decision on 6-month high-rise buildings moratorium appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Zoila Palma: During cabinet’s meeting on May 19, 2026, cabinet approved the implementation of a temporary six-month moratorium on the approval and construction of buildings exceeding 45 feet in height and/or greater than three floors within the communities of Caye Caulker Village, Hopkins Village, the Placencia Peninsula, and Sittee River Village. During an interview
The post Prime Minister defends cabinet’s decision on 6-month high-rise buildings moratorium appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.