We've told you about the dispute between the Attorney General's Ministry and the Department of the Environment over Luke Espat's Belize Cruise Terminal Project. Well tonight we've obtained new documents which show that it's not just a dispute, it's a fight. On August 4th, Solicitor General Edwin Flowers went to court to withdraw all legal action by the Department of the Environment against the Belize Ports Limited. As we noted, Flowers was also a Director of the Belize Ports Limited and, in that capacity, transferred the parcel of land on which the environmental violations were occurring.
Well on the Monday after that withdrawal, Chief Environment Officer Martin Allegria wrote this angry letter to the Sol Gen's boss, Attorney General Francis Fonseca. In it Allegria says, "the department feels that the Solicitor General's action was unprofessional, undermining and not transparent, as no one from the Department of the Environment was even consulted or informed of this action."
Allegria then goes on to note that the department can bring legal action in its own right, quoting section 39 of the Environmental Protection Act, which states, "on the application of the department it appeals to the Supreme Court that a person has done or is about to do, any act or thing constituted or directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act, the court may issue an injunction ordering any person named in the application."
After citing that, Allegria notes that this enforcement notice has not been legally withdrawn which, we take to mean, makes it still active, though work continues under the blanket of protection from the executive.
