Last night, we told you about the virtual hearing that happened before Justice Lisa Shoman in the overall fight of which mega cruise port will control the Belize District's cruise tourism future.
Several months ago, Stake Bank Enterprises Limited had filed an application for judicial review against the Government of Belize. They insisted to the court that the National National Environmental Appraisal Committee and the Department of Environment made a bad decision when they gave the necessary environmental approval for Port of Magical Belize to proceed to the next phase of development.
After winning an early argument over whether or not they should be allowed to bring their claim, they were supposed to file the documents to bring their full lawsuit on or before August 10, 2021.
Since that time, the other developers: Portico Enterprises, the company that has proposed the Port of Magical Belize, and Waterloo Investment Holdings Limited, which wants to upgrade the Port of Belize Limited to accommodate cruise tourism, have joined that case as interested parties.
They and the Government of Belize all filed applications to strike out Stake Bank's case on the grounds that as litigants, they failed to meet the August 10, 2021 deadline for the filing of important court documents. They say that the claimant didn't do so until 3 days later, which means that their case is out of time, and not properly before the court. But, since the government is the substantive defendant, in this case, the court allowed them to move their application instead. The interested parties were given an opportunity to address the court on the arguments being raised. And of course, since they also wanted the matter struck out, their submissions aligned with those presented by the Assistant Solicitor-General, Samantha Matute-Tucker, on behalf of the Attorney General.
After listening to all the arguments, including the points raised by the attorneys for Stakebank that they did meet that deadline, the judge ruled that they were too late with their court documents. As a result, the judge granted the strike-out application and dismissed their claim completely.
So, is that the end of the legal battles on this matter? That's what we asked Hector Guerra, one of the attorneys representing Waterloo Holdings, and the other companies connected to PBL's proposed cruise development. Here's what he had to say in a virtual press briefing this evening:
Hector Guerra - Attorney for Waterloo Holdings
"Today's hearing had to do, particularly with an application filed by the Attorney General's Ministry, seeking to strike out Stakebank's claim because it had failed to file its claim within a mandated 14 day period from the date on which it received permission to commence the judicial review proceedings. The rules of the court require that a judicial review claim be filed within a 14-day period from the date on which you received permission to bring the claim. The central argument today surrounded the fact that that was not complied with. As a result, the court ruled that the claim be struck out. In its reasoning, the court carefully detailed the fact that the rules, as they now stand, do not permit - do not grant the court its discretion to extend the period. And so, it's a really strict rule. But nonetheless, it's a rule that's in application today, and that should be complied with."
Reporter
"Is it that they can bring back another application for judicial review and meet the required timeline? Can they appeal a decision like the one that was given today?"
Hector Guerra
"There is a possibility that it may be appealed. Of course, any litigant has that at its disposal. Now, in terms of whether a fresh claim can be brought, we have our reservations about that. We do not believe that a fresh claim can be brought, as a result of the way the law stands at the moment."
As you heard, Stakebank Enterprises still has an opportunity to appeal this outcome.
