And like many of the other members of the government, the Minister of Tourism would also prefer to put the controversy over the Juratowich opinion aside. He told us yesterday that there's no point in continuing to discuss it since the government already rejected the Definitive Agreement. He said that the only way to move forward now is to ensure that investors have an enabling environment - especially since Belize City is in desperate need of a proper docking facility.
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"Why does that matter now? I think the point is moot, we have moved past that, the definitive agreement is no more and we know that our business is to improve the investment climate for the country so that we can attract investors from all walks of life and from all areas of Belize but we primarily want to see Belizeans invest in tourism specifically and other business. Our goal and our focus is to grow the economy in a sustainable way and so cruise tourism is a part of it."
Courtney Menzies:
"But you were leading the charge in rejecting the former definitive agreement, so you think it would have been easier for the Cabinet to make their decision if they had known about the Juratowich opinion from April?"
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"But everything comes to Cabinet, they're ventilated, we looked at the definitive agreement, we looked at the draft bill, and a lot of these things have to do with timing. I keep saying that sometimes we don't operate with a level of urgency in this country. It has taken 50 years for this field to be improved but now it has taken this administration 2 and a half years during COVID to get this field done. We ventilated the definitive agreement, the legislation, and the Cabinet paper in Cabinet and, led by the prime minister, he said no this can't go forward and we put it on hold and he tore it up in the House and we're moving forward. Do you all agree that there is a need for a docking facility in Belize? Otherwise, the numbers will go down and so when you're looking at the investment of Port of Magical, you're looking as Buskalis, you're looking at Royal Caribbean, who has great level of investments all across the world in terms of ports and then you have a group out of England that is the financier, or part financier for the project so you have serious players at the table and we have to have that discussion with them. Now, it will take some time but I believe we'll get something worked out for the best interest of the Belizean people."
