He could have been a poster boy for the tourism industry, instead Carlos Popper says he's been treated like a doormat. When he lost his entire resort after building on the wrong piece of land on Rope Walk Caye, he turned to the same government minister who sold him the land, Minister of State in the Ministry of Natural Resources Servulo Baeza. Baeza didn't help him and neither did his boss, Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno. Popper also appealed to Prime Minister Said Musa and the Minister of Finance, Ralph Fonseca, but got no help.
But one man who did give him some hope, at least initially, was Minister of Tourism Godfrey Smith. And probably right that he should have because as a local resort owner with 12 years of success at the Five Sisters Resort, popper is all that Smith's Tourism Board extols as a model industry stakeholder. But it seems that the gaffe was so big, and the players so intractable in their positions that even after an initial undertaking, smith threw in the towel. Popper explains.
Carlos Popper, Resort Owner
"I went to the Minister of Tourism, who I thought was going to help me because this is his area, his portfolio, and at first he seemed to be very helpful, he arranged other meetings with other people and what not, and he said he can't see why they couldn't relocate Mr. Teichroeb and then all of a sudden at one point he stopped communicating with me. I could not get him to answer his cellphone, he would not agree to see me, and he just threw me one side. I got the impression that he was tired of having to talk with me."
Tourism Minister Smith declined comment. Now, Popper hopes to personally sue Servulo Baeza for damages. Presently, his case is with his new attorney, Senior Counsel Michael Young. His previous attorney Senior Counsel Dean Barrow bowed out because of imminent elections.
As a clarification to our story earlier this week, Barrow did not lose the case to keep Popper on the property or fail to inform him of an injunction hearing. He, in fact got the injunction against Popper lifted and steered him to a settlement out of court where Popper agreed to vacate the land in three months paying only Teichroeb's cost of court and no damages. Of course, Popper did not have to vacate because developer Papi Pena bought the buildings and has worked out an agreement with Teichroeb to leave them there. That agreement, as we understand it, may include purchasing the property from Teichroeb.
And in a final note, 7NEWS today received a letter from the Prime Minister's law firm, Musa and Balderamos, attorneys for Ministers Servulo Baeza and Ainslie Leslie, advising us that the allegations made against Ministers Baeza and Leslie are false. Senior counsel Edwin Flowers has requested a retraction and apology. 7NEWS has advised our attorneys.
