Photo: (l-R) Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, Leader of the Opposition and Joshua Carroll, VP of Destination Development

The portion of the cruise company’s response that directly addressed Portico’s controversial Definitive Agreement consisted of just two sentences near the end of the letter. 

by Marco Lopez 

BELIZE CITY, Mon. June 26, 2023

Last Friday, Royal Caribbean Group (RCG) issued a letter in which it responded to the correspondence sent by Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow to the company’s CEO, Jason Liberty, on June 12. In that correspondence, Barrow had classified Portico Enterprise Limited’s presentation to Royal Caribbean of its controversial Definitive Agreement with Belize’s government for the construction of a cruise port as an act of fraud. He also described the company’s failure to scrutinize the validity of the document and the reputation of the principals of Portico as “bewildering”. 

The letter responding to Barrow’s stark comments, written by the cruise company’s VP of Destination Development, Joshua Carroll, states, “We would like to assure you, and the people of Belize, that RCG is fully committed to ensuring a fair, transparent, and sustainable process in Belize.” 

In the letter, the cruise port giant confirms the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Portico and international dredging company Boskalis. The company also claims in the letter that over the past year, they have “invested considerable resources” to do an in-depth analysis of each cruise port project being proposed near Belize City and that they looked at how each aligns with its guiding principle for “sustainable and operational developments.” 

Port of Magical Belize, the project being proposed by Portico, according to the company, “is the only project, of the three, that meets their “standards for environmental impact and operational viability”—although very little facts were presented to support their assertion.

While RCG claims in the letter that the project will have a “limited impact on surrounding sensitive ecosystems”—with a reference to One Man’s Key’s surrounding coral not being impacted, being the sole piece of evidence put forth as proof of their claim – the environmental community has noted that the significant dredging and land reclamation and removal of mangrove will result in a significant contortion of the country’s coastline. Moreover, the wide scope of the alterations of the landscape to be carried out as part of the project—including the construction of a road—was approved within a single EIA when multiple EIA’s would typically have been required. 

The High Court will soon be determining whether the issuance of this environmental clearance by the National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC) was done properly and within the scope of its powers. 

Despite these headwinds, RCG has apparently not budged, since it stated in its letter to Hon. Barrow that it is partnering with Portico and lending its experience in sustainable development. The letter makes mention of the limitations at the Fort Street Tourism Village’s current tendering port and states, “As the global cruise industry leader in Destination Development, we are committed to being part of the solution and are eager to significantly increase our contribution to Belize’s tourism economy.” 

As for the Definitive Agreement, the company claims that it was executed before its association with Portico and Port of Magical Belize. The letter did not state, however, the level of consideration given by the company to the Definitive Agreement and the role it played in the signing of this year’s MOU between the entities. 

“It is our understanding that Portico is working closely with the Government to either amend the Definitive Agreement or execute a new Definitive Agreement to address stakeholder concerns with the existing document,” the letter states.

They announced that a representative will visit the country shortly and extended an invitation to Barrow to meet with that rep.