Payment By Oda To Road Building Project In South Belize

EDM number 294 in 1996-97, proposed by Lynne Jones on 03/12/1996.

That this House calls upon the Overseas Development Agency not to provide ú7.5 million in aid to the road building project in south Belize, through the largest intact area of rainforest in Central America, unless a fair arrangement has been agreed over the use of land in the area once the road has provided access; demands that the Maya Indians of the area, and their representative culture associations, should be part of the consultative process leading to such an agreement; demands that the ODA seeks guarantees that Mayan Indians will not be left without home or livelihood as a result of the road building or business development that follows it; asks that the ODA fulfill their obligation to include environmental matters in their deliverations by making a condition for the payment that land use be sustainable; and calls on the ODA to ensure that the project is managed such that economic benefit directly aid the poor of south Belize, rather than the huge logging and plantation companies.

This motion has been signed by a total of 41 MPs.