Eight days ago, we told you that the sale of Scotiabank to Ashcroft Alliance's Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited had been fast tracked under the new PUP administration, after being delayed for months by the Barrow Administration. The deal comes with a lot of concerns, including the fact that the Alliance's Belize Bank, would emerge as the single largest bank in Belize.
In addition to that, the public consultation for Alliance's Waterloo expansion on the lands owned by Port of Belize. This expansion project was shut down by the Barrow Admin back in July, but is now back on the front burner as an Environmental Impact Assessment has been lodged at the DOE.
The public consultation began at 6:00 this evening and is currently underway, but just hours before, FECTAB was hoisting the red flag high.
President David Almendarez pointed out that in just fourteen weeks, and in the middle of a health crisis, he says the PUP have managed to fast track both the Waterloo expansion project and the Scotiabank sale - before even presenting their health plan against COVID-19.
And, Almendarez claims that he had a meeting at the Radisson Fort George with Lord Michael Ashcroft - so he claims to know the Lord's Plan for Belize.
Almendarez is now warning Belizeans to keep their eyes open, for what he calls a "blukut" for Belize.
But what about the environmental damage that critics say the Waterloo expansion project may cause?
The dredging could cause silt buildup on the reef system, and severely impact the livelihoods for fishermen, and tourism stakeholders. Former President of FECTAB, Tom Greenwood, put the potential damage into his perspective.
The public consultation is being held live on the Government's Press Office page, and viewers can WhatsApp their questions to 601-3400. So, far, during tonight's consultation, the DOE along with Waterloo advocate, Dionne Chamberlain-Miranda, were debunking misconceptions about the harm that the dredging will supposedly cause. We will have more on the consultation tomorrow.
