What Do Ministers Mai and Garcia Think of that Now Famous Definitive Agreement?

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

So while former U.D.P Attorney General, Mike Peyrefitte spoke in great detail about the now famous Definitive Agreement between the government and Portico Enterprises Limited, Minister of Tourism, Anthony Mahler and Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Chris Coye are revising the document to see what portions of it needs to be amended. Today News Five got the feedback of two more ministers of government who agree that the agreement certainly need the amendments. Minister of Human Development, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, who is also an attorney by profession, and Minister of Agriculture, Jose Abelardo Mai weighed in on the document.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development

“Cabinet, we had some very serious discussions. Um, and clearly I think we will have to go and, like I say, wheel and come again. I believe we have to go back and really, really, really look at the, um, the cruise industry. My own feeling is that way back when, you know, George Price made a statement that we did not want to become a nation of waiters. I think what he was looking at was the growth of tour tourism at the time, and maybe fearing that with tourism difficulties would come. Now we’re seeing it. It’s a moot point – what George Price said fifty years ago, because tourism is here now. It is accounting for such a massive percentage of the employment for our people and of, and of our economy. You know, so it is here. Now how do we manage it going forward? How do we manage it going forward? Do we want to stress more on overnight tourism and less on the cruise ship, or do we want to build the cruise ship already? It is mired in a lot of controversy, you know, and we have to be careful about our environment. We must be careful about our environment, right? And I’m aware that there’s an ad out there talking about the objection that myself as area rep for Gales Point, the objection to the Vulcan proposal. So we have to go back and wheel and come again.”

Jose Abelardo Mai

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“I will not speak on that at this time. I’m shocked, okay, but I will not say more than that. In Cabinet we need to discuss this at length. I do not want to say anything that will affect us or can affect, or give the wrong perception of things. At this time I’ll hold it close to my chest.”