What’s the Future of Stake Bank?

There is another proposed docking facility which has gone under the radar. It is at Stake Bank located just seven miles off the coast of Belize City.   For over a decade, the Fort Street Tourism Village has been the sole port of entry for cruise tourists entering into the country. The Feinstein Group, which is the investor in the-multimillion-dollar Stake Bank project, challenged an agreement between FSTV and the Government of Belize that prevented the construction of the facility, which essentially will offer services similar to those in the tourism village. In October of this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Feinstein Group paving the way for Stake Bank even though there are still some legal hurdles to cross.  We asked Director Andrade about the fate of FSTV, the tendering system and the new port at Stake Bank. While he was unaware of the status of the Stake Bank, Andrade maintains that the docking port is needed for the future of the cruise tourism industry in central Belize.

Valdemar Andrade

Valdemar Andrade, Dir., Cruise Tourism & Destination Planning

“As far as I know, there is no closure and I don’t know the exact state of play of Stake Bank until all the relevant documents and everything are in place. Then will I be able to say where Stake Bank is going. That docking facility is needed as I have always said and I continue to say. There is definitely a need for a docking facility because of the size of the ships that are coming in the future. The way the cruise industry is moving, we do have a need for Belize to have a docking facility to be able to go to Oasis-class ships or beyond Oasis-class ships. And so I will say that there is a need and even an urgency at this time to ensure that we have a port in place.”

Duane Moody

“How does it create jobs? Will the tendering system be affected?”

Valdemar Andrade

“Until the details of how that is planned, I wouldn’t be able to tell you reliably at all if the tendering system will be affected or not.”