And while the cruise tourists didn't get to see the riot squad in action, soon enough, they will get to see another side of Belize
City: the south side. 7NEWS has received reliable reports which tell us that the cruise terminal on the city's south side will proceed.
The breakthrough reportedly came this weekend when Prime Minister Said Musa spoke to Mickey Arison - the CEO of the Carnival Corporation. Arison reportedly agreed to let developer Luke Espat go ahead with the project, with backing from Michael Ashcroft. It's a breakthrough because carnival had opposed Espat working on his own as he had been doing, without first consulting the slow-moving Carnival Group.
So does that mean that the partnership between Espat and Carnival is now severed? Well, from what we've been told, not quite. Arison reportedly told the Prime Minister that his cruise line will make a long term commitment to the cruise terminal. How many ships over how many years has not been disclosed but the basis value of the guarantee could be worth as much as US$50 million.
So does this spell the end for the Stake Bank tourism project? Well, that's a decision to be made at the highest levels, but for Stake Bank to proceed, government would have to license it as a sovereign port - a move which Espat, and by extension Ashcroft, say they will fiercely oppose.
The pressure is now on Espat to deliver a pier that can dock cruise ships by November of 2007.
