And, so while the UDP's Albert Area Rep supports a renewal movement - we also got her to speak about her former job, as head of the Cabinet Investment Committee. She said her government never agreed to a causeway for the Feinstein Group's Port Coral Project when a review was done in 2017.
But, she is still the one who broke ground at Port Coral - so we asked her which cruise port will lead the way to Belize's cruise future:
Jules Vasquez "What's the cruise tourism future of Belize? You've been involved in tourism from the 1990s. Something has to be done, the ships not continue to use the tendering boats, they're too big"
Hon. Tracy Panton - Area Rep, Albert "The ships are getting bigger and every argument I've heard from cruise lines that we need to improve the infrastructure for onshore docking."
Jules Vasquez "So what's the solution? Port Coral, Port of Magical Belize or Waterloo?"
Hon. Tracy Panton "The only project that got the green light from the UDP administration was the stake bank project. The other 2 projects were being examined in terms of the feasibility of those projects but they were not green lighted so to speak."
Jules Vasquez "So can stake bank survive, can it make it without the cause ways? Is it economically viable"
Hon. Tracy Panton "The cruise lines will have to make that determination."
Jules Vasquez "You are a very experienced person in tourism, will the cruise lines say yes to a cruise facility where they still have to yes, you can disembark right on the island but if you want to go see Belize, you have to jump on a boat."
Hon. Tracy Panton "I will say this, what makes Belize attractive to cruise lines is that it's a tour port, so making it as efficient as possible for passengers to embark on tours throughout the country."
Jules Vasquez "Which means a cause way."
Hon. Tracy Panton "It may mean a cause way or it may mean another facility."
Jules Vasquez "So then, no cause way, no cruise ships."
Hon. Tracy Panton "I don't know, according to the developer, they have had very robust discussions with cruise lines, so it may mean that the cruise lines are prepared to give that project a chance."
