But, of course, Stake Bank is just one of three cruise ports vying to control cruise tourism in the Belize District.
As we have been reporting there's also the Port of Magical Belize and the Waterloo Development at the Port of Belize.
But, how does all this marine mega development square up with a government that's telling the world, through its Blue Bond, that it is aligned with marine conservation goals?
Having tens of thousands of cruise visitors passing through a World Heritage Site daily, and traversing a causeway that cuts through a manatee sanctuary would seem to put a lie to all that Blue Bond talk.
So, is the government supporting all three ports, is it even supporting any one of them? There are tens of millions of dollars already in the ground at Stake Bank and GOB is still not making a firm choice. Today, the PM said, basically, "trust the process":
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I don't think we as a government have said we are supporting three ports, we are not supporting three ports. What we are saying is we have to let them follow the process and then decide which one is it that is going to work out. I don't think it's for me to be able to say well we want project A or B or C, they have to go through the process, they have to go through the NEAC, they have to make sure that they are meeting the environmental standards that are required by the country and after that then we have to look at their financing, are they serious, do they have the necessary ability and know how to be able to do what they do and then it's only after all those questions have been answered then I believe that we as a government can say we believe this is the best project we can support. We're not there yet."
Reporter:
"But what if the other two meet the criteria, the conversationalists are saying you all don't have a sustainable plan in relation to ports. You don't say one port is enough, two ports is going overboard, and three we can definitely not allow so if a second makes it then there can't be anymore."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"A lot of that is going to be determined by the private sector, by the investors, nobody is going to invest in something that cannot work. Everybody can tell you the three ports cannot work, quite likely not even two ports could work. We might end up with two ports in the sense that the Port of Belie is already there and whilst they also want to do a cruise port, at the very least they have a container port and that's going to stay. As to having three ports, of course people are not going to invest their money if they know as an investor they're going to be three port, how we wah make money?"
"As a government of course we're not going to oppose three ports, but we have to let them go through the process then after that as a cabinet take a wholistic view and decide which is the best that can serve the interest of the country."
Courtney Menzies:
"But one would say Stake Bank is already far into their construction, they have buildings, they want to be finished on that island by next year. So we'll make these other two ports go through all this work and these processes just to deny them because Stake Bank is almost finished."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Well good for Stake Bank, the point is then the other companies and the other people who want to do their projects are also seeing that and in their mind they're probably seeing something that we are not aware of so we just have to give them a chance."
It's not quite clear how far "giving them a chance" will go since each Port project is budgeted for well over 150 million Belize dollars.
