Turning back now to all the back and forth about Portico Enterprises and its flagship project, the Port of Magical Belize. This morning, lead developer David Gegg contacted our News Director Jules Vasquez to suggest that former Prime Minister Dean Barrow knows more about this project than he's letting on.
He showed us a letter from his partner in the port venture, which is Boskalis, one of the largest dredging companies in the world with headquarters in the Netherlands.
Boskalis wrote a letter addressed to former PM Barrow, Chair of the Investment Subcommittee, Tracey Teagar Panton and Minister of Economic Development Erwin Contreras on September first, 2020. The letter was discussing equity arrangements for the Port of Magical Belize.
Gegg says he - along with a representative from Boskalis - hand delivered it September 4th, 2020 at a meeting they had with Barrow.
We asked Barrow about it today - and he says that meeting did not happen:
Jules Vasquez
"According to Mr. Gegg: we had a meeting on September 4th with Prime Minister Barrow and I personally delivered the copies of the letter. I presume that means he personally delivered it to yourself to Tracy Taegar Panton and Erwin Contreras. It was delivered to you on September 4th. What's your reaction?"
Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"No so, not so."
Jules Vasquez
"It didn't happen?"
Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"No sir. I have to call out Mr. Gegg. You had in fact indicated to that this would be a matter that you would be oblige to raise in this interview and searched my memory, I thought there is no way I could have met with David Gegg whom I have known for years and not have any recollection of such a meeting. So, the explanation to not having any recollection of the meeting is because no meeting ever took place."
"Conscious of my advance in age and the fact that the years can play tricks with people's memories, I spoke to my personal assistant at the time Miss Rosalie Sedacy, she says, she was the gatekeeper - she never saw Mr. Gegg ever, except on TV. No such meeting took place. I spoke with my ex-CEO Audrey Wallace, she said as far as she remembers no such meeting ever took place."
Barrow adds that he never saw the letter. He also notes that Hurricane Nana hit southern Belize on September second, 2020, so most government offices were not doing regular business.
