Monday, June 5, 2023

The release from Portico Enterprises that appeared on News5 last Thursday evening, when all the local newspapers had already gone to press, is very interesting, intriguing even. In this news business, we have over the years learned not to “judge a book by its cover,” but always to consider the possibilities of hidden agendas. Everyone knows that the Ashcroft Alliance is exceedingly peeved that its Waterloo cruise tourism project has run up against a major obstacle with its Environmental Impact Appraisal (EIA) proposal – which included massive dredging in the vicinity of the Barrier Reef that was concerning to the environmental lobby, both local and foreign, and which got a thumbs down from the NEAC. But Portico’s Port Magical of Belize project is in direct competition with Waterloo; what’s up with that?

Portico’s late Thursday scoop (news) to News5 followed the previous week’s nationwide condemnation of a leaked “Definitive Agreement” that was reportedly discussed in Cabinet. The proposed concessions to Port of Magical Belize in the “Agreement,” signed a month before the November 2020 general elections by UDP minister Erwin Contreras, have been described as “outrageous”, “scandalous”, “obscene”, “atrocious”, etc. because of the absolute giveaway of everything in the way of concessions, waivers, exemptions, etc. where the government’s normal revenue sources would apply, as in customs duties, income taxes, stamp duties, etc. etc.

Portico’s release was mainly about “strongly denying allegations of corruption put forward by Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow during an interview with the media on Tuesday.” The gist of the release was that, notwithstanding all that some citizens might find offensive in the “Definitive Agreement,” it was done through all the proper legal channels. The release insists that Portico’s attorney not only followed through with all the “applications for the various permits and licenses that were required for the project, but also ensured that Portico satisfied all legal requirements upon making such applications.” And it further noted that they had completed the necessary steps toward “securing the Environmental Compliance Plan which was a condition precedent to the Definitive Agreement.” So, there are no apologies to the Belizean people for this “atrocity,” but rather, Portico is “digging in” and maintaining that all is “legal,” even if it is “morally” repugnant to every sober Belizean. (Interestingly, both the former UDP P.M. and A.G. maintain that the document is illegal.)

Both the Stake Bank and the Port of Magical Belize cruise port projects have faced some issues regarding dredged material, but theirs are either on a much smaller scale or/and are to be disposed of at a location farther removed from the Barrier Reef (or vulnerable onshore sediment ponds) than the Waterloo project, and thus are being regarded with less apprehension by the National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC). Waterloo being one of three proposed cruise port projects in the Belize City area that are in direct competition with each other, and Waterloo being the one that has found itself in the worst position so far in terms of getting approval from Government to proceed with construction, it is a bit peculiar that the knee jerk reaction of Portico to the “corruption” scandal being served on some past ministers of the UDP government in respect of their “Definitive Agreement”, would find itself a safe harbor and willing vehicle, a scoop, actually, on the news station, Channel 5, known to be owned by the Ashcroft Alliance, the owners of Waterloo. Ashcroft seeming to be helping an “enemy/adversary/competitor” is something to take note of. In this small world of big companies and many little “shells” in obscure places, who knows what is behind all this?

There is no crime in entertaining “conspiracy theories”; it is better to be safe than be sorry. Port of Belize, under control (through receivership) of the Ashcroft Alliance for over a decade, has been in a battle with its employees/stevedores for many months over compensation for lost wages since the shipment of sugar has been diverted from Port of Belize to the port down at Big Creek. Strange, wasn’t it, that the Ashcroft Alliance did not put up a big fuss about losing all that business when the traditional sugar barge exports stopped coming to the Port of Belize, going by road instead to Big Creek. It was the stevedores and their Christian Workers Union (CWU) that put up a big fight, while the Ashcroft Alliance has turned upon them for agitating for compensation for lost wages. So brutal has the Port of Belize/Ashcroft Alliance (PBL/AA) been in their attack upon the stevedores/CWU, that they (PBL/AA) have launched a big lawsuit against them. But there was never any mention of a claim or lawsuit against the Government of Belize or the Big Creek principals when—despite a Government written assurance that it would not happen when the Big Creek port was activated—sugar exports were diverted from Port of Belize. A big promise broken, and nary a word from Port of Belize/Ashcroft Alliance. Food for thought.

Every once in a while, in our local newspapers, we see small public notices that companies with strange-sounding names are being dissolved. Who knows the owners of these companies, or what their business is about. Sometimes, one company owns the other, and the other, and it becomes a real puzzle to know who really owns what. Some years ago, Amandala was sued by one Sagis company, and only after the matter went to court was it discovered that Sagis was actually owned by the Ashcroft Alliance.

Belizeans are well-advised to beware of the pitfalls and potential adverse consequences of the legal, economic and ecological minefield ahead in the upcoming weeks and months as a result of the heightened energy and muscularity of the three mega-principals in the wrestle for what may be perceived as the biggest touristic plum on the auction block of this little Jewel called Belize. We were once considered, “the end of the world, if there is one,” then “pristine and unspoiled,” then “nature’s best kept secret,” as the international business community slowly became aware of the potential for profit. Now, as the giant financial sharks of the cruise tourism world are beginning to thrash their mighty fins in Belize’s financial and environmental shallows, the little people called Belizeans are watching in “shock and awe,” wondering if there is anything at all we can do to have a say in “who gets what” in the impending feeding frenzy on all the “wealth untold” that “God’s goodness gave” to us, the supposed guardians of this Jewel.

Like everybody else around the world, Belizeans want “a good life,” and they want it here on earth, to enjoy with friends and family; and that can only come with the currency of the day—which, if they can’t make it here, is pursued by traveling to the US or somewhere “foreign” to make that dream come true. “Home, sweet home, Belize” will always be in our hearts. The dilemma facing the Belizean people right now, as the wheels of “progress” begin to turn ever more swiftly, is if, in a few years’ time, when the shining new architecture and massive man-made tourism paradise is up and running in the vicinity of the old capital, if we will be happy with the results. Will we be satisfied with that New Belize? Will it still feel like “nature’s best kept secret”, or stir our memories of “Dawn is a fisherman”? Will our young people be getting employed, and bringing home handsome pay checks each week with smiling faces, able to rent or build their homes, and furnish them with appliances and fixtures from Courts and other commercial institutions? Or will they be griping about the “chance” that the big companies are taking of them in order to carry overseas all the millions they are making from their tourism project that they completely constructed right in the middle of our “Land of the Free”? Will we be having regrets over “losing what we had” and not sure if we “got what we wanted”? These are questions that bother some sober elders who reminisce on the beauty and wonder of life in “old Belize”, while the young and innocent are simply flowing with the tide and looking to see where this tidal wave of “foreign direct investment” will lead, and which politicians will see their dreams come true.