The Minister of the Blue Economy, Andre Perez, gave a virtual statement yesterday, publicly asking his own government to put a hold on Waterloo Investment Holdings expansion project for the Port of Belize. Today, he followed that up with a press release in which he said that he has done his due diligence and he has spoken with the Fisheries Department as well as other environmental NGO's on the matter. He has also had a dialogue with the Prime Minister and other ministers and has decided that he will not endorse the project.
In his statement, he says that there are more pressing issues of national importance that need urgent attention - such as the economic crisis the country is in, the increasing number of COVID related deaths, and the effects of major flooding in various part of the country.
Minister Perez says that in the discussions with the Fisheries Department and the NGO's, the ministry has gathered that the consultation process has been flawed and that there are several entities that have endorsed the project secretly while publicly opposing it. The Ministry is now advising the developers of the Port of Belize Cruise and Cargo Expansion project to rethink their consultation process and seek ways of addressing major concerns such as the ocean dumping they are proposing.
