Photo: Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE
BELTRAIDE representative, in 2nd session of Senate Special Select Committee, stated categorically that in his view, the Portico Definite Agreement for a cruise port “is not valid, and in fact, does not exist”.
by Marco Lopez
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Jan. 10, 2024
Appearing today before the Senate Special Select Committee, that is probing the processes which led to the signing of the Portico Definitive Agreement, were Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Executive Director of BELTRAIDE, and Talbert Brackett, Commissioner of Lands. They answered questions from the committee about the role of BELTRAIDE in the vetting stage of investment proposals and the acquisition of lands in Belize. The morning and afternoon session lasted a little over three hours. The first witness on the list was Dr. Almendarez.
He had been present at the committee’s previous session, but did not get the opportunity to make his presentation, since the committee’s questioning of Hon. Tracy Panton and Hon. Michael Peyrefitte, and the presentations by those former Cabinet members, had taken most of the time. Today, however, he got the opportunity to make it categorically clear that in his view, the so-called Portico “Definative” Agreement for the establishment of the Port of Magical Belize cruise port is not valid, and in fact, does not exist. He emphasized that the Portico investment did not meet the requirements of a venture of this magnitude, as was also stated in the last session. He also noted that when he had reviewed the file for the project’s application, he had quickly realized that the absence of EIAs and a declaration of source of funding were reasons enough to not proceed with the proposal.
“If it’s required that we do a full EIA, and that EIA is not conducted, or that is not submitted as a part of your business proposal, then, basically, the proposal should not move forward,” Almendarez said. He added, “The EIA was not completed — proof of funding; and so, therefore, it meant that whatever step that was, because you notice it says throughout, it continues to speak about source of funding, that has to be ascertained. And so, therefore, if it was not, then it simply means that in this case, this project should not have proceeded, because there were those things that were outstanding. And our job at BELTRAIDE is to inform whatever investor it is that, until you satisfy these conditions, this application does not move.”
He further mentioned that “they were notified that these things were outstanding. There were still those outstanding requirements.”
When questioned by business senator Kevin Herrera about the extensive incentives offered to Portico Enterprises Ltd., Almendarez went on to state that he refused to read a document that in his view was not valid, and did not exist.
“…. But if you were asking me to read something that, as far as I know, doesn’t exist, then why then would I read it and to give information on it for what purpose? … As far as I know, there is no definitive agreement. Whatever exists out there, I will not honor it, to read it, simply because it did not go through the process; and as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t exist,” he remarked.
Almendarez outlined that BELTRAIDE’s role in the process was to do the pre-vetting and provide information to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Investment (CSCI). The BELTRAIDE representative basically had the task of taking minutes of the CSCI discussion, he said.
He shared that, once the application left BELTRAIDE and ended up in the hands of the CSCI, it would have meant that all the requirements were satisfied. Almendarez pointed out that he answered directly to the Chairperson of the CSCI.
“I would not have engaged every other member of the Cabinet Subcommittee. I would have engaged the Chair … our responsibility — because we took directives from the Chair — would have been with the Chair and no other members of the subcommittee,” Almendarez said.
He thus stated that he was shocked “to know that one was signed; to know that something was signed outside of the knowledge of those who may or should have known about it; to know that something could have been signed when if something did not go through the full process.”
The Lands Commissioner called
Talbert Brackett, Commissioner of Lands, took the hot seat in the Senate for the afternoon session of the committee meeting. The career public officer began working at the Department of Lands in 1985, and gave a brief on the process of acquiring lands in Belize. He said that he was not fully apprised of the project, or the matters concerning the lands on which the proposed development would be placed.
He suggested that the proposed lands for the construction of the Port of Magical Belize were in private freehold and were not acquired from the National Estate. The deal took place before he took office as Commissioner, Brackett assumed. “And I would also assume that those might just be private lands, and I am not familiar with that transaction,” he said.
He confirmed that the land is owned by the company and two shareholders. Thanks to the digitalization of the land folio system used by the department, the information and reports on transactions can be generated and reviewed by the Committee.
The full committee meeting is available on the Government of Belize’s YouTube page.