Amidst the rumors of poor quality construction, numerous complaints to the Municipality, misinformation on all the wanna-be Roatanians chat rooms.... I made some personal calls to the horse's mouth to get the "reel" lowdown on some recent "stop work" orders....
Seems that a local developer, responsible for numerous developments, many of which I've personally steered my clients towards.... had been suspended from all construction activities pending further investigation. Investigation? Surely, there is some mistake.... rumors of everything from tax evasion, to inferior quality construction....to non-delivery of promised structures.... all tidbits floating around the Coconut Telegraph here on the Island....
The truth of the matter was actually quite simple. Mess with Mother nature, intentionally, or by accident, and the Environmental Police will come a callin at your door! I made a call directly to the affected developer so I could let you know the truth, and nothing but. According to he, who shall remain anonymous, his workers mistakenly cut down some trees on a housing project newly underway.....which in turn raised eyebrows and rustled a few neighbors in the area. And with good reason. Cutting down a living tree is a serious matter. And we don't take it lightly...mistake or no mistake. You need permits for this, and good reason too. Trees root together to solidify mountain slopes which, during the rainy season, can be quite river-like. Without them, erosion, decay and detrimental clay and other contaminants enter our fragile reef system...
The developer was issued a stop-work order, pending investigation promptly by the municipal. Within a week, I was told, the order was lifted, and the builder's crews were back at it once again.... but the investigation continues and at the time of this entry....there's been no fines (Maltas in Spanish) or wrongdoing found by the Authorities...
