Photo: Lord Michael Ashcroft 

Following a second rejection of Waterloo’s proposed cruise terminal project by the NEAC, many are expecting a lawsuit from the Ashcroft Alliance against the government of Belize, in line with threats previously made by Waterloo’s chairman, Lord Michael Ashcroft. No indication of a legal proceeding has yet surfaced. 

by Marco Lopez 

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 1, 2022 

When asked by reporters if he expects any litigation to follow the NEAC’s second rejection a week ago of Waterloo’s cruise port project, Prime Minister John Briceño said that Lord Michael Ashcroft and the other principals of Waterloo Investment Holdings Limited have the option of taking the National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC) or any department of the government to court if they so choose.

While Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, Hon. Orlando Habet, confirmed to KREM News the NEAC’s decision to deny approval of Waterloo’s project, there has as yet been no official announcement by the NEAC or the Department of the Environment of the decision. Neither has there been a government press release or any other comment by a member of Cabinet on the matter. Hon. Habet himself has, since the KREM News interview, been evasive about the issue when questioned by other media outlets.

Much controversy surrounded Waterloo’s second project proposal submission, after the public became aware of a strongly worded letter from Ashcroft to Prime Minister Briceño (sent in January of this year) in which he warned the government of a possible arbitration proceeding due to what he (Ashcroft) alleged was a violation of the 1982 UK Belize Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement treaty signed between the UK and Belize. In the letter, Ashcroft stated that he and the UK shareholders of Waterloo had already invested more than 5 million dollars in the project and were thus entitled to compensation under the 1982 agreement. The letter then advised GoB to “amicably settle the above dispute” within three months from the date of the letter or “the investors will be entitled to submit this dispute to international arbitration.” Following the surfacing of the letter in August, the AMANDALA had stated that it appeared “to be a more aggressive tactic aimed at wresting approval of Waterloo’s proposed cruise terminal from GoB” and that it “entered the public domain just days before the scheduled public consultation on the new ESIA for the project” took place.

Waterloo has invoked this treaty several times, as far back as 2009. A December 2009 AMANDALA article reported that, in 2009, “By way of formal notice to Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Attorney General Wilfred Elrington, Dunkeld International Investment Limited (a Turks and Caicos company affiliated with British tycoon Michael Ashcroft) … indicated that it [was] invoking foreign arbitration for damages and losses of at least BZ$200 million and up to $400 million, following the nationalization of Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) in August. The notice of arbitration makes reference to a treaty Belize signed with the UK back in 1982, with a 1985 amendment signed by Barrow, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, extending the treaty to the British territory of the Turks and Caicos.” Most recently, in connection with the rejection of the Waterloo cruise terminal proposal late last year, Ashcroft stated in his January letter to the Briceño administration that investors in the Waterloo Cruise Port and Cargo Expansion project would be forced to invoke the treaty if, essentially, Waterloo’s appeal for reconsideration of its proposal did not lead to project approval by the NEAC. 

Instead of the appeal, however, a new ESIA (Environmental and Social Impact Assessment) for the project was submitted, and after two public consultations, and various purported amendments to the proposal, the NEAC ultimately rejected the project a second time.

But according to PM Briceño, while his administration might not be able to grant approval of Waterloo’s proposed construction of a cruise terminal, his government is still very much in support of an expansion of the cargo capacity at the Port of Belize Ltd., which would be an enhancement of the primary function of that facility, and the importance of such an improvement at what is currently the major port in the economic hub of Belize cannot be overstated. For his part, the PM expressed his belief that the much-needed repairs and development of the cargo capacity at the Port of Belize are long overdue. 

He then commented on the port’s 20-year status as an operation under receivership, and pointed out that this arrangement should not continue to be in place much longer.

“The port is under receivership, and that is something now that has to be addressed shortly. The receivership, or the bank, or whosoever has the receivership, has to decide what they’re going to do. The Port of Belize cannot stay in perpetuity on the receivership, and it is more than— the time has way passed for them to start the development or to repair or modernize the port. That is a must for this country, and the receivership or the people that are responsible for the port under the receivership will have to make up their mind if they either want to develop the port or get people who are prepared to develop the container port,” he said.

When asked in a 2021 interview if his company would upgrade the bulk storage facility and container port if his cruise terminal proposal was not approved, however, Ashcroft had said a clear “No”.

“That will not happen, because for the bulk handling you need dredging too, so you would have the same issue, so Waterloo has made it abundantly clear that there is not one without the other. So, it’s not the end of the world for me,” Ashcroft had said.

He made these comments following the first rejection of Waterloo’s project proposal by the NEAC late last year. He had stated at the time that they would go through the process and “if it happens it happens.” 

“Putting something of this size together takes a lot of work and sadly, I’m 75, so for me to really make sure – because I won’t enter into any project that can’t be completed, so whether it happens, time will tell,” he had said.

Whether this second denial by the NEAC is the end of the road for the Waterloo project, or Ashcroft will subject the country to a new round of costly litigation, is yet to be seen.