Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Sylvester Stallone's Company Fined for Harming Corals

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Dec 15 2007 (IPS) - The Honduran Secretariat of Environment handed down a 42,000-dollar fine to a hotel for having contaminated the coral reefs in an untouched area of Guanaja Island, in the Caribbean Sea. The majority shareholders in the firm, Iguana Bay Resort, are Hollywood actors Christopher Lamb and Sylvester Stallone, whose representative in Honduras is former tourism minister Thierry Pierrefeu.

“There was serious damage. They built without authorization and we have to set a precedent,” René Zúniga, the government's environment prosecutor, told Tierramérica. He said that an inspection a month ago showed harmful impacts from the resort and it was decided to fine the company and to supervise another hotel project that is just getting started.

The zone has protected status because of the abundance of its coral reefs.