Barrow Says Feinstein Will Not Get Exclusivity
Dean Barrow
Today, Cabinet sent out a release on an application by Stake Bank developer Mike Feinstein for exclusivity under a twenty-five year contract where that project is concerned. Last week, Feinstein told us that if he could not get some sort of guarantee from G.O.B., he would put a halt to the mega-million-dollar Stake Bank Project. That’s an abrupt about turn, since Cabinet agreed last week to green light the project. The PM told us today that he was all set to sign the statutory instrument to bring certain incentives into force. But exclusivity is out of the question.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“I met with him last Friday because I understood that he had some concerns and he made clear that unless we were prepared to give him a twenty-five year exclusive, he would not be inclined to proceed. Now I found that kinda rich; this is as you know, the man who a few months ago, succeeded in winning a judgment from the court striking down exclusivity in so far as it related to FSTV and in so far as it related to the contract that he had first gotten from the P.U.P., which he then turned around and sold to FSTV. It is absolutely impossible for us, in view of the court ruling and perhaps as a matter of instinct and inclination, to give any twenty-five year exclusivity. So that’s where the matter rests for now.”
Mike Rudon
“Is there any common ground that you think could be reached in this?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Well I don’t see how; I did say to him that there has been these expressions of interests from other people who want to look at Port Loyola as a site and that we were naturally going to permit them, it may even be encourage them, to see whether that was technically feasible. Mister Feinstein said that he knew as a fact that it wouldn’t be; so I said well what’s your problem? As I said, he is insisted on an exclusive—which the law that I was going to bring into force doesn’t provide for—he is insisting on a twenty-five year exclusive and government won’t do that.”
Reporter
“So what are the options right now in terms of the port? I know you spoke about there are several investors interested?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Well two investors in particular, a company call PIL; that the acronym…I’m not sure what it stands for—Ports Investment Limited—that’s the company that is the receiver of the Port Loyola Port after there was the foreclosure on Luke Espat. So PIL has that interest and there is that group that Chukka referred us to, called Hertsal, who is supposed to come and talk to us. So we only have it second hand from Chukka that that group is also interested in building an alongside berthing facility and the only place, in terms of Belize City, would be Port Loyola.”
According to PM Barrow, G.O.B. will be holding meetings with both interested parties as early as next month.
