Prime Minister John Briceño leads Caribbean Delegation to Hamburg, Germany in research visit looking for solutions to sargassum problem

Photo Credit: Office of the Prime Minister

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: Prime Minister John Briceño, in his capacity as Vice President of the Sixth Session of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) DOCK Assembly, led a delegation of technical experts on a research and educational visit to Variodin AG, a Hamburg-based technology company from September 1 to 2, said the Government of Belize Press Office.

“We are looking at productive ways to use the sargassum and manage waste to help transform and meet our energy needs in our countries,” Prime Minister Briceño said on Thursday.

“We are working on an MOU on how to use sargassum for electricity, but we need to present it to Cabinet first,” said Prime Minister Briceño to Breaking Belize News (BBN).

“In seeking technological solutions in managing waste, for example, sargassum, for the production of energy, and based on our research and ongoing discussions, Variodin’s technology can possibly assist to design innovative technological solutions that can address this threat in the region.”

The Press Office said the visit gave the SIDS delegation a better understanding of how Belize and the Caribbean region can capitalize on and mitigate the growing threat of sargassum to the region’s critical tourism industry.

Belize and the Caribbean have been affected by sargassum since 2011 and recently have experienced an increase in sargassum patches along coastlines as a result of warming waters. The threat is such that Belize, Jamaica, Barbados and several other Caribbean nations have been battling the ever-present sargassum and its related effects on its tourism product. St. Croix has been hit so hard that the Caribbean island has had to declare a state of emergency to address the mounting sargassum along its coastlines.

The GOB Press Office said the SIDS delegation also met with Hamburg city officials to look at how Germans manage waste in their cities and identified some working solutions.

The delegation included technical experts from Belize, the SIDS DOCK Secretariat and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

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