BELIZE CITY, Sun. Dec. 12, 2021– Waterloo Investment, Michael Ashcroft’s company proposing the development of a cruise and cargo docking facility at the Port of Belize, has applied to the Supreme Court to be added as an interested party in the Stake Bank v GOB case. The application to join the judicial review initiated by Stake Bank will be heard in the courts next week, and if granted, will lock these three investors in a legal battle to determine whether or not exclusivity in the big cruise port game will be handed to Stake Bank.
The case involves an application in judicial review filed by Michael Feinstein’s Stake Bank against the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, and the Department of the Environment. The decision to grant Portico’s Port of Magical Belize development environmental approval is in question, since Stake Bank asserts that in granting the green light to the project the NEAC and DOE failed to consider the economic ramification it would have for their already approved cruise port development.
Portico Enterprise Ltd., a David Gegg company, joined on as the first interested party, since the judicial review concerns their application directly, and puts at risk their development of the cruise facility near the Sibun river.
These new interested parties, Waterloo Investments, and its local agents, Belize Cruise Development Limited and the Belize Logistical Terminal Limited, are joining to represent their interest in the proposed development of a mega cruise and cargo docking facility at the Port of Belize, located in the Southside of Belize City. The development is one of Michael Ashcroft’s projects.
But now, this case brought by Stake Bank, which seeks to secure exclusive rights to the cruise port industry, brings Waterloo’s project to yet another juncture, since that development has gotten serious pushback from the environmental community over dredging plans which could also put at risk our priceless marine life. After a revision of the plans, and a scaling down of the dumping of waste material out at sea, the development now faces pushback from the national water and sewage company, Belize Water Services Ltd. (BWS), which has stated that their nearshore solution would be disruptive to their sewage processing plant located near the proposed area.
As the port wars continue, the court this week will decide whether or not this new interested party will be added to the case. For now, one of the issues underpinning this proceeding is whether or not the NEAC and DOE should have consulted Stake Bank before giving approval to the Port of Magical Belize development. If the court finds that this consultation should have been carried out, Waterloo will face the same fate of having to consult with Stake Bank on their cruise project.
The issue of exclusivity is at the core of this battle, and Stake Bank is claiming that they were granted this right with the passing of the Stake Bank Cruise Docking Facility Development (Amendment) Act, 2017.
In the Fixed Date Claim filed for the proceeding, they declare, “The Government of Belize, by the execution and entry of the Definitive Agreement and the subsequent passage of the Stake Bank Cruise Docking Facility Development (Amendment) Act, 2017 created a legitimate expectation that the Applicant would be the only cruise port in the Belize District.”
However, an amendment gazetted on December 29, 2017, inserts a non-exclusivity clause.
It states, “It is declared that nothing in this Act shall be construed as making the Facility the exclusive cruise port for the Belize District.”
One year earlier, then Prime Minister Dean Barrow told local media that Stake Bank’s request, which was in some respects a demand for exclusivity, could not be granted. PM Barrow had said at the time that Feinstein was demanding a 25-year exclusive contract just months after his case in the courts to strike down the previous exclusivity granted to the Fort Street Tourism Village was successful.
In the 2016 interview, former PM Barrow said, “It is absolutely impossible for us in view of the court ruling and perhaps as a matter of instinct and inclination to give any 25-year exclusivity. So that’s where the matter rests for now.”
The matter of damage to the company’s economic interest is also a salient question. The Stake Bank cruise development is an investment of at least 300 million dollars, its principals estimate.
The outcome of this case will determine how the country’s coastal waters in front of the Belize District will be developed and be managed over the coming years. With the signing of the Blue Bond for Conservation deal between the Government of Belize and the Nature Conservancy, the government will naturally pay an added interest in the management of our marine environment and coastal waters where these mega-developments known for massive pollution may be established.