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Roatan Bruce Interviews                Posted:  11/17/2006

Minister of Tourism Ricardo Martinez    
Minister of Tourism Ricardo Martinez (L) with 'Roatan' Bruce Starr (R)

By Bruce Starr 

Roatan Bruce:  Thank you for coming to the studio. Tell me about some of the most important issues you are dealing with today? 

Ricardo Martinez:  The cruise industry is very important. The Port Authority is no longer going to collect the dock fees from cruise ships. They will now be collected by the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Why did this make sense for the Bay Islands?  Royal Caribbean is going to invest five million dollars on the first phase of the dock transformation and on a shopping center. I am trying to convince them to build a convention center as well. In exchange, we are giving them the normal incentives.  

But once we surpass the 350,000 passenger goal, and we are up to 285,000 in 2005, they are committed to build a second pier for 17 million dollars.  What is not so obvious about having a prestigious cruise line calling Roatan their home is, if we are hit by a hurricane, other cruise lines will leave and not return for awhile. That will not happen with Royal Caribbean which considers us their home. They will do everything in their power to put everything back in good working order as soon as possible. They will continue to bring business long after the storms are gone.   

Roatan Bruce:  People are worried about what is going to happen with the projected 750,000 tourists coming to the island in the future. Many of them are most likely uneducated about the reef.  Our reef has to be taken care of to make sure we remain a sustainable tourist destination.  

Ricardo Martinez:  I think you are addressing this situation very well.  This gives me the opportunity to make a public apology about PMAIB and some of the bad things done in the past by this environmental agency for The Bay Islands. This project, managed by The Minister of Tourism in the past, also accomplished a lot. Some of the good things are the Cadastral project that has eliminated a lot of the conflicts about property.  We also now have an index of health for the reef showing what areas of the reef are in good shape and which ones are bad.  

We now know that human elimination is the greatest threat to the reef.  The second most damaging to the reef is erosion and sand. The fishing threat is also a problem. I agree inexperienced snorkelers and divers have been and are still damaging the reef. The more people that come, the more they will damage the reef.  

That brings me to why I am here on the island today.  I am meeting with the InterAmerican Bank and their top officials analyzing and reviewing what has been done in the past and what we will do next.  We are going to put a water system in Pollytilly and new garbage dumps in Guanaja and Utila.  We will also do more potable water systems on those islands as well as Flowers Bay. We are also coming up with a very pro-active educational program to teach the population on ways to protect the reef.  We are putting together the financing to protect the reef and keep the tourists coming.  

Roatan Bruce:  I was not fully aware that the environmental agency PMAIB answers directly to the Minister of Tourism.  Maybe it is because they are such a secret and a mystery to me and everyone else here on The Bay Islands.  We don’t know much about them. To remedy that, I as a radio and television host and producer have been trying to get them to publicize their efforts for well over a year and have been unsuccessful.  Can I get a commitment from you to have them become more transparent, more visible about talking about their projects? People know how many millions of dollars they have at their disposal for projects, yet we know very little about them. 

Ricardo Martinez:  Absolutely! Yes! I am going to make a commitment to you from this point on that they communicate better with you.  They have a communication department and a communication expert onboard, but they are afraid to be more public. There were so many mistakes made in the past, they are afraid to be criticized in public.  

Roatan Bruce:  One of the issues that troubles me is transportation system.  For instance, Belize is less than 100 miles away. We would all like to go there for a weekend get-a-away, yet it seems to me that the path there has been made very difficult.  The number of flights to get there and the cost of taking this short trip is very high.  

Will it be possible in the future to open up all of Central America for everyone to fly wherever they would like without prohibitive and cumbersome day long flights at high costs? It seems to me that everyone would benefit under those conditions. The airlines would charge less, but many more people would be flying.  Hotels here and everywhere would have many more rooms filled. Restaurants would have more seats filled.  There has to be a way to do this! 

Ricardo Martinez:  I am so glad you have asked me this question. We have been working at this for years.  We have been trying to sign an agreement with the Mundo Maya Organization for air connectivity.  Just two days ago, I received a response from the Mexican Civil Aeronautics Board. They are the ones most afraid and conservative about their airspace in Middle America. 

They have sent back the draft proposal we have made of this agreement with minimal changes.  What this agreement is going to do, and we expect to approve it in July and have it signed by August is, all the airstrips from southern Mexico including Yucatan, Cancun, Belize and all the way down to Panama are going to be considered domestic flights. They will be considered the same as a flight to Tegus or San Pedro Sula. No high airport departure taxes. That means no customs or immigration. Hopefully that will bring us a lot more tourism.  

Roatan Bruce: For instance, we know that the many millions of landlocked people of Mexico City have wanted to come here to snorkel and dive on our beautiful beaches.  I think everyone from Central America would want to come here.  We would like to travel a lot more to Central America. 

Ricardo Martinez:  There is a meeting of Central American presidents from Mexico to Panama in July.  The Ministers of Tourism from the same areas will meet then to discuss the final draft of this agreement.  Hopefully thirty days after we approve the draft, the agreement will be signed. To be implemented, it could take another six months to a year.  We will need the blessing for the two major Central American airlines to make this happen. 

Roatan Bruce:  Why is the flight schedule to our neighboring islands like Guanaja and Utila so cumbersome and time consuming? They are so close to us. I am sure that if schedules were more convenient and not so expensive, many more people would be traveling to our area knowing they could take in all three islands as part of their trip. I also feel the same way about Copan. People have to take the 7 am boat, catch the 10 am bus to San Pedro Sula, then the 2 pm bus to Copan where they get in at 5 pm.  That is a wonderful way to go. You get to see so much of Honduras that way, but we should have choices. Honduras would benefit so much if travelers knew that could go to Roatan and Copan easily on the same trip. 

Ricardo Martinez:  I started in the aviation business in 1974.  An airline called SASA used to fly from La Ceiba to Utila to Roatan and then to Guanaja. They would then do the same trip in reverse the next day. It worked. Maybe we can try to do the same thing again.  

I am going to help people like Gil Garcia of Roatan Flying Services fly directly from Roatan to Copan at least every Wednesday and Thursday.  Why those days? After people fly in on Saturday and Sunday and get three good days of sun, they would be ready for a break and a few days in Copan.  

We are going to make arrangements for people like Gil to fly to an airstrip 8 kilometers from the Ruins on the Guatamalan side of the border.   

We will soon be building an airport in Copan.  It will be a 1200 meter paved airstrip with an open terminal. It will look like a Mayan Temple. It will be ready in two years. We have the commitment from the InterAmerican Bank and the Government of Taiwan for 11 million dollars.  All the studies have been done. We have all the permits. This will be a great location for the airstrip.  

Roatan Bruce:  I want to thank you again for coming to the show just months after taking office. I appreciate your opening and willingness to work with the people of The Bay Islands.  I know how closely related you are to Canaturh Bay Islands. We feel we are in good hands with you.  

Ricardo Martinez:  My heart has been with the islands since 1973. Since then I have never stopped coming to the island. I work with the people of the island. I am doing everything possible for all three islands to develop tourism in a sustainable way.  We will continue to support the island internationally through all the proper media and promotional activities.

END