And while the Prime Minister did make a pitch to the electorate, he also raised some heavy matters: most notably the proposition for an elected Senate and the urgency to build a cruise terminal with docking facilities. First, here's what he had to say about the cruise terminal.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Cruise tourism brings jobs and foreign exchange that is critical for the economic stability of the Belize District and indeed of the country. If we don't have a docking facility by 2009, cruise ships will bypass Belize. That must not happen. So long as we are the government, it will not happen. One or other of those cruise ship projects is going to be built.
Our plan is to level the playing field and to ensure that both projects have an equal stake in building their cruise terminals and we are convinced that at least one of them will do it, possibly both of them."
Steward Krohn, News 5
"You had promised to exclusivity different people. Isn't this a problem of government's own making?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Well it's a problem of development that oftentimes the investor, the businesspeople, insist or want exclusivity because of the major investment they are making and as a government of a developing country we have to work our way through these things. It does give rise to problems at time, yes."
Jules Vasquez,
But sir you all reneged on your commitment.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"No we have not reneged on our commitment. The Port of Belize Limited does have exclusivity in terms of a commercial port in the Belize District. No other port will be allowed to be built, commercial port in the Belize District."
Stewart Krohn,
"Well if that is the case then why would the crowd even attempt to build a port if he has that exclusivity of a commercial port?"
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"Because my understanding is that they don't intend to build a commercial port. All they are building is a cruise ship docking facility."
Jules Vasquez,
For free? It is a commercial transaction.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"By commercial I mean the trading of goods and so forth."
Stewart Krohn,
"But the wording of the contract certainly does not define that."
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"It says port, yes."
Jules Vasquez,
Sir do you accept that you are exposing taxpayers to liability because Mr. Luke Espat already has one lawsuit and says he will do another for breach of exclusivity?
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
"I am convinced that cooler heads will prevail and I believe that this matter will be settled."
Hon. Godfrey Smith, Minister of Tourism
"You are aware of Cabinet's decision of last week. It was not an easy decision to come to. We, this government put a lot of political goodwill into this Carnival project, passed legislation, we were taken to court by the BTIA, and still we do not have a dock up at this point. Yes the developers will say that government has contributed to that state of affairs and that may be the case.
We believe that the time has come for us to put both projects in a position where one of them can take off or they come together, negotiate, and come to a solution where there is one port. I understand that negotiations have been in place, in fact I know that these two developers have been negotiating to come to some joint settlements that's been negotiated now for basically most of this year and nothing has happened. So hopefully Cabinet's most recent decision might, if nothing else, serve to bring them to the table to reach some kind of final settlement.
It is not the neatest and most clear cut of situations. In fact it will probably be a slightly messy situation but sometimes you have to take tough decisions and I certainly don't want the judgment afterwards to be that two cruise lines were interested in a project and it could have happened but you guys sat by, you waited and watched, and waited and watched and 2009 came and you were bypassed. I prefer to take, part of a Cabinet that takes a decision where you take an action where something happens, even if it is a bit messy, even if people do not think that it might have been the best decision. The bottom line is we just cannot sit by and watch while nothing happens. Something has to happen."
Jules Vasquez,
A messy situation and the liability always accrues to taxpayers. It is not your company you're running, you're running the government and the liability is a public liability if Luke Espat or the principals of Belize Cruise Terminal Limited which may include notoriously litigious Michael Ashcroft. If those people decide to sue for breach of exclusivity, breach of contract, it is the taxpayers who are liable.
Hon. Godfrey Smith,
"We are looking at the legalities. Don't think it is a decision where we say we are going to make the playing field even without weighing the legalities. We are weighing the legalities and bear in mind we also hope that these two developers will come together to the table and stop playing footsie or handsie or whatever it is they were playing."
And while the Prime Minister and the Minister of Tourism hope a deal can be worked out between Luke Espat on one side and Mike Feinstein's Stake Bank on the other, there is a huge Development of note between those two parties and government. Eamon Courtenay, the attorney for the Belize Cruise Terminal Limited today appeared before Justice Minette Hafiz where he got an ex-partee injunction against government; it blocks the government from issuing a port license to Mike Feinstein's Stake Bank Project. It's major wrench in the works, because based on the strength of a written commitment from government promising a port license and associated revenues, Feinstein has gotten two major cruise lines to commit to his project.
The injunction stands until October eighth. This is the first step leading to arbitration proceedings between government and Luke Espat's port interests - a slippery slope and also likely to be a costly one.
