But, right now the PM has much bigger fish to fry, the Ashcroft Alliance has invoked the UK-Belize Investment Treaty. The last time the A-A did that it was over BTL - and that ended up costing taxpayers over half a billion dollars.
This time it's over the Waterloo Cruise Terminal Project - which has been twice rejected by NEAC. In its filing, the Alliance argues that it hasn't been treated fairly by NEAC, and its project has been subjected to standards that the other cruise projects have not.
Invoking the treaty is a big deal - and not a minor undertaking, since it will likely result in years of costly legal battles. Today the Prime Minister said it's all about the environment:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Because they took away an asset. We are not doing that. We have not nationalized anything. We have not done anything illegal. All we are doing is following the process of the law. We know that Belize is, is, is, um, recognized as an environmental paradise and that we believe that we also have, uh, responsibility not only to Beliaeans but to humanity in protecting the reef."
"And if the Waterloo Group were to meet the criteria that has been set by the NEAC, the government will fully support what they're doing. We've said that over and over. Once you pass the, the, the, the NEAC then, and then they come to Belize, to, to the government asking for a development concession to, to, of course we are prepared, um, to do that."
For the record, the Ashcroft Alliance alleges that the Briceno Administration has not given their investments fair and equitable treatment.
