Injunction granted against tourism village pier

While most cruise ship agents in Belize City are eagerly awaiting the opening of the second phase of the Tourism Village, tonight one local restaurateur is seeing red. Carlos Romero, owner of the Wet Lizard, which sits squarely between the two villages, walked onto his veranda this morning only to find construction workers driving piles into the seabed, the first phase of a pier running along the Haulover Creek. This was a shock to Romero because months ago, he thought that he and his lawyer had convinced the Supreme Court to grant an injunction to stop the project. The businessman says the owners of the Tourism Village are using a government letter as justification to sidestep the court’s ruling.

Carlos Romero, Owner, Wet Lizard

“They got a letter from the Ministry of Natural Resources where they get an approval to connect two piers inside the tourism village. This letter was sent from Natural Resources to the Mayor of the City, giving the tourism village a permit to connect two piers”

Janelle Chanona

“And that’s signed by who?”

Carlos Romero

“It’s signed by the Minister of Natural Resources. I looked at the letter, it’s a very big letter, obviously it could mean anywhere inside the tourism village, but I am not part of the tourism village. This is a private property and as such, they are against my rights of free access to the sea and the river.”

Late word from the Supreme Court is that a new temporary injunction has been granted barring the Belize City Council from continuing work on the pier. The court case will continue on Monday.