On Friday night 7News was the first to report on the minutes of the NEAC meeting in February of 2021 that led to the approval of the Environmental Compliance Plan for the Port of Magical Belize owned by Portico.
One of the issues raised in that meeting was whether Portico had approval for use of the seabed from the Ministry of Natural Resources for construction of the artificial peninsula, among other things. There was no clear answer coming out of that meeting - and since then we have confirmed that in fact no such approval has been given.
Today, in his regular press briefing Shyne Barrow said he confirmed with the Minister that no such approval has been given:
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"I wrote to the minister of natural resources to ask him has his ministry given permit for the seabed, which is essential to that Port Magical development and he said absolutely not. So, again Port Magical is such a question mark, mired in controversy, allegations of corruption from its birth - a former minister signing a definitive agreement before the EIA was granted. Then we get to how everything played out with Portico given preferential treatment."
"You did a news story on it, how Dr. Williams who's in the meeting imploring the board to find a solution. His job is supposed to be to protect the environment."
