_{Photo: Stake Bank}

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 17, 2024

Appearing on a morning show on October 7, Prime Minister John Briceño stated that the world’s largest privately owned cruise company, MSC Cruises headquartered in Switzerland, had expressed interest in the Port Coral cruise port project, for which construction is currently on pause at Stake Bank Island. However, he emphasized that the cruise company wanted no part of the mess that is the legal dispute between the receivership, Atlantic Bank, and the developer behind the project, Belizean businessman Michael Feinstein. These two are mired in a bitter legal dispute over the ownership of the 23.4-acre extension of Stake Bank Island, the title to which is in Feinstein’s name. The PM explained that MSC would only be willing to buy over the project if the issue is settled. He subsequently stated, “So that, the only way we can do that is by compulsorily acquiring land.”

_{Photo: Michael Feinstein}

Just a couple days prior to the PM’s morning show appearance, Feinstein’s daughter had posted again to Facebook, reporting that they had acquired confidential e-mails referencing precisely a proposed sale to MSC Cruises even before Atlantic Bank placed Stake Bank Enterprise Ltd. in receivership. She added that the intention all along had, in fact, been to sell off the island. She therefore used the hashtag, “StealingStakeBank,” and added that their understanding is that the proposal is to extend the island even more by another 30 acres.

On Friday, October 11, members of the Federation of Cruise Tourism Association (FECTAB) once more held a press conference to support the Feinsteins. As has been previously reported, FECTAB had reached an agreement with the developer that Belizean tour operators would have access to the Stake Bank facility once the project was complete. They are therefore concerned that this “railroading” of the project will negatively impact them.

Joining FECTAB members this time around the head table were two well-known artists, poet Erwin X and painter extraordinaire, Alex Sanker. In the audience were Luke Martinez, the president of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), and NTUCB senator Glenfield Dennison.

Referencing the presence of those various individuals and entities, FECTAB president David Almendarez said they are all in solidarity and they need unity. He explained, “And one of the things we are very united about is about this compulsory acquisition of Stake Bank.” Almendarez described Stake Bank as a dream they had that they’d get a port in front of Belize City which would be run by good owners who think about the country and spread the wealth. On the contrary, he noted that no big international company, that they had not even heard of before, will prioritize small operators in Belize. Almendarez asserted that the Belizean people are being sold another dream with MSC, and recalled that “Not even the people of Placencia wanted Harvest Caye, and they rammed it down wi throat.” FECTAB member Yhonny Rosado commented that they are telling the Government “NO!” in regard to the compulsory acquisition. He affirmed that as long as they see wrongdoing, they will call it out, and “We are seeing OPSA – wrong! We’re seeing the Stake Bank thing; the Government should not be cutting deals! The government should be facilitating deals for the Feinsteins, for the Geggs, for the Ashcrofts. Da denya people da di money people.” OPSA is the Honduran company that bought over Atlantic Bank’s Stake Bank-related debt.

In his case, Sanker spoke about the Feinstein’s long-time support for his craft, and said he had a commitment from them that he would have been assigned a location at Stake Bank to display his work and that of other Belizean artists. Now, with OPSA, he says, that has gone down the drain.

For his part, however, Prime Minister Briceño has since emphasized that the Government is merely acting as an honest broker in relation to MSC. He added that the company sent a high-level team to Belize a few weeks ago, and they did a flyover and were awed at Belize’s beauty, and expressed interest in investing in the Jewel. As an aside, the PM said they also expressed interest in potentially investing in the cargo aspect of Port of Belize Limited, given that their parent company is the largest container shipping company in the world.

Asked to comment about the allegation by the Feinsteins that there had been the intention to take over the project from them and sell it off, PM Briceno replied that they (the Feinsteins) may be seeking public sympathy, but that “the truth of the matter is that that project has gone bankrupt. The truth of the matter is that Mr. Feinstein and his group have not been getting along … they don’t have the funding to be able to finish it.”

Feinstein’s attorney, Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith, after a court session today, stated that the e-mails referenced by Feinstein’s daughter may very well feature in the ongoing cases regarding Stake Bank. Smith and the attorneys for the different parties regarding the constitutional challenge to the Government’s compulsory acquisition of the 23.4-acre island extension were in court today to argue an application for an injunction. However, the Government committed to continue its stay of the compulsory acquisition until the substantive matter is ruled on. The hearing for that has now been set for December 19 and 20, 2024. This means that the Government will not proceed to issue the second notice of compulsory acquisition which Smith says is what “effectively vests the land in the Government.”

According to Smith, the end goal for Feinstein is vindication that he validly holds title to the 23.4 acres in his name. He said, “We believe that we will be able to demonstrate clearly to the court that he lawfully came into possession of the 23.4 acres without any fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty or any of the allegations being made against him.” He added that letters sent to Government proposing compensation have gone unanswered. Feinstein is actually objecting to the admission of letters containing their compensation proposal as evidence in the substantive case.