What is the cruise tourism future of Belize? And out of three possible ports with berthing facilities for the mega cruise ships, which will get government's approval?
Tonight, the picture is more unclear than ever - and that's due in no small part to the apparent vacillations of the Briceno administration.
When the PUP was elected, the expectation was that it would be the Ashcroft Alliance's Waterloo development that got the nod because of Lord Ashcroft's support for the PUP.
But, then this letter emerged from 2017, showing that the then leader of the opposition John Briceno had pledged full support for the Feinstein Group's Port Coral - which they also voted for in the House.
And, now there's another signal coming out of Belmopan - this one from the Department of Environment. This letter - which started circulating this weekend - caused whiplash in many circles. It's a letter from the Department of the environment and it gives the green light to the Port of Magical Belize. The letter is dated Friday and it is signed by the chief environmental Officer Martin Allegria. We could not reach the Minister for comment.
So, there's one Cruise Port being built at Stake Bank - that's Port Coral; another now approved to be built at Port Magic - which is at the mouth of the Sibun River - and a third on deck at the Port of Belize in Port Loyola.
Each has profound environmental implications and impacts and this evening OCEANA said, basically, "what the heck is going on!?"
A release says, quote, "Despite public and repeated calls for the Government of Belize to review the cumulative impact of the multiple cruise port projects proposed for the Belize District, over the weekend the nation became aware that yet another cruise port has been approved….As of today…there has been no official press release from the Government of Belize with any further details, despite the significant public concern that has been generated by this project….the proposed scale of dredging from even one project is significant cause for concern. Oceana Vice-President, Janelle Chanona is quoted as saying, "To do less than safeguard the very ecosystems and biodiversity that cruise visitors want to enjoy would be shortsighted and in the end, economically detrimental to all Belizeans."
We could not reach Minister of the Environment Orlando Habet for comment today - but we did speak to him on Thursday before we saw the letter. He spoke in very general terms about the NEAC process.
Orlando Habet, Minister of the Environment
"There are also further requirements even if NEAC approves a project based on what was assessed and the EIA in terms of the environmental impact, all of them will have some impact we have to decide if it is more than the pros vs. cons but there are also requirements. The projects will have to show tenureship of the land that they're going to be using, they have to have a mining license, they have to have a Port license so all those are separate and apart from what NEAC does."
"You have to recall that what our Ministry does is they do environmental assessment through NEAC and then somewhat of the social side, then there is another evaluation which is done by, for in terms of the economic and financial side of things, the project, and so a finality has to go through a parliamentary session. So, Stake Bank as I say already on the way, and the other two have done their part with the site visit and also the consultation."
Cherisse Halsall:
"But Sir there was supposed to be a four-month period to develop a national port policy to present to Cabinet, what's the update on that, how's that going?"
Orlando Habet, Minister of the Environment
"That is underway we also have several ministries that are involved, and have already started to meet, we formed a small co-group that involves the Ministry of Sustainable development, The Ministry Of Tourism, Ministry of the Blue economy also."
And while Minister Habet played it very soft and easy - the DOE letter and NEAC decision has significant implications - both within government and within the conservation community. We'll keep following it.
