PBL intends to sue Erwin Contreras; Waterloo calls out Senator Chanona
BELIZE CITY, Mon. June 12, 2023
The name of former Economic Development Minister Erwin Contreras has been a constant on morning shows and the news ever since May 25, 2023, when the media got its hands on the Port of Magical Belize Definitive Agreement he signed with Portico Enterprises. Contreras has kept silent on the matter, only telling a reporter via phone call the day after, that he had no comment, since the matter may go before the courts. Fifteen days after the 30-page document was leaked, Port of Belize Ltd. (PBL) served Contreras notice that the company would proceed with legal action against him.
The 30-day notice dated Friday, June 9, 2023 cites Section 3 of the Public Authorities Protection Act, which outlines that a copy of any process shall not “…be served upon any public authority for anything done in the exercise of his office, until one month after notice in writing has been delivered to him, or left at his usual place of abode by the party who intends to sue out such writ or process…” Here we note that port developer, Stake Bank Enterprise Ltd. has taken a different approach by threatening to sue the Government of Belize if it does not give an undertaking that “GOB will declare that the Port of Magical Definitive Agreement is in fact null and void and will refrain from taking any steps to pass and/or enact any primary and/or subsidiary legislation in furtherance of the Port of Magical Definitive Agreement.” The deadline provided by Stake Bank’s attorney, Senior Counsel Glenn Godfrey, for the Government to give that undertaking was June 8, and today we confirmed that the Attorney General’s Ministry has not yet responded to him.
Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith (representing PBL) informed Contreras in the notice that the company intends to seek damages for misfeasance in public office, special and general damages (including damages for loss of opportunity), aggravated damages, and exemplary damages. In outlining the nature of the claim, Smith explained that the tort of misfeasance in public office arises from the Defendant’s “deliberate, wilful, unlawful and clandestine signing of the Definitive Agreement…which resulted in financial losses to the Claimant.”
Amandala understands that the essence of PBL’s claim is that Contreras’ signing of the Definitive Agreement dated October 1, 2020 was unlawful, given that he did not have the power to sign it, and that by doing so, other developers within a 25-mile radius of Port of Magical Belize could not be awarded fiscal incentives, thereby precluding approval for another port project within the same geographical zone. We note that after the PBL cruise terminal project was denied environmental clearance a first time, Waterloo Investment Holdings Ltd. chairman, Lord Michael Ashcroft wrote Prime Minister John Briceño on January 10, 2022, stating that, based on assurances from the Government through the years, they had invested in excess of U.S. $5 million to develop plans for the project. [the actual wording in the Ashcroft letter is “Encouraged by GoB, Waterloo invested in excess of US$5 million on the development of the Project.]
One day before the notice to Contreras, on June 8, Waterloo’s CEO, Stewart Howard wrote Janelle Chanona, Vice President of OCEANA Belize and NGO Senator, declaring that there is “marked silence” on her part and that of the Belize Network of NGO’s against Portico, as compared to their advocacy against the PBL expansion project. Howard told Chanona that, based on the media’s continuous coverage, the “sordid and scandalous details surrounding the unlawful signing” of the Agreement and “Prime Minister Briceño’s stealthy attempt to get it legislated,that was rejected by some ministers in Cabinet,” would not have been lost on her. He pointed out that OCEANA Belize originally expressed concern about the proposed Portico development in 2017. Howard wrote, “Disturbingly, Portico’s dredging, artificial peninsula and docking facilities for oasis class cruise ships will be situated only eight miles from the Southern Lagoon Manatee Reserve and its outlet, the Manatee River. Is this not of concern to the conservation community?” Later in the letter, Howard posed another question to Chanona: “Doesn’t Oceana Belize and the wider environmental NGO community have at least a few concerns to express about the legitimacy and speed of the environmental clearance granted to this mega development?”
Today, Senator Chanona told Amandala that upon receipt of Howard’s letter, she forwarded it to members of the Coalition as well as the Belize Network of NGOs for them to be aware of its content. She stated, “In my capacity as Senator, I can share that, like very many concerned Belizeans, I have been closely following the various leaks and developments related to the multiple port proposals. It is my opinion that a thorough and transparent investigation is warranted to ventilate the significant issues that have emerged to date. These are public assets and therefore everything related to these proposals should be in the public domain.
“In my capacity as Vice President of Oceana, I stand by all my on-the-record statements and positions on the numerous and significant concerns emanating principally from the fact that these mega-development proposals have not been, and are still not being considered collectively. Therefore, the combined impacts of these mega development proposals are not being calculated cumulatively.” Senator Chanona calls on all Belizeans to remain vigilant and to demand meaningful engagement to support informed decision-making. She concluded, “Bottom line: None of us want any frightening surprises to show up on the horizon, ‘binding’ agreements to pop up or any ‘secret’ financial liabilities to be demanded from the public purse without our collective awareness and consent.”