Belize Port Authority Requests that Port Projects be Suspended

The Belize Port Authority wants all port development projects suspended immediately. Chairman of the Belize Port Authority Retired Major Lloyd Jones has written to Chairman of the National Environmental Appraisal Committee, Martin Alegria, informing them that approval has been given to develop a national port policy. The policy is to de-clutter the port landscape and to guide the national port development agenda moving forward. Chairman Jones writes that the initiative is not expected to take more than four months. And until a national port policy is finalized, the Port Authority asks that all proceedings related to any port development be suspended. Just recently, environmentalists voiced their opposition to the development of Port of Magical Belize on the south coast of the Sibun River. In the letter, Jones tells Alegria that the Belize Port Authority Act empowers the minister to grant licenses for all ports’ construction and operation after consultations with the B.P.A.  Jones says he wishes to be in a position to properly advise the minister.