Stake Bank’s Feinstein Refutes Tourism Minister

Developer Michael Feinstein has come out swinging against Minister of Tourism Manuel Heredia Junior, following recent statements made during the budget debate on Friday.  Those comments were purportedly in reference to the stalled Stake Bank Tourism Project.  Today, the Feinstein Group of Companies fired off a press release in response to those comments.  Feinstein says, “if the Stake Bank project was properly supported by the U.D.P. it would have been completed years ago, the passenger count would have tripled by now and the per person spending would average one hundred and forty Belize dollars times three million passengers…  The government would not need to raise taxes due to the sums of monies it would collect from the project.” The release continues to speak on the sale of the Belize Tourism Village, now known as FSTV, and the subsequent litigation which proved that the Fort Street Tourism Village does not have exclusivity over cruise tourism in Belize City.  Feinstein says, “I believed the Prime Minister when he assured me that all he needed was the judge to pass the decision in our favor to move the project forward.  However, I walked away when I learned that the PM was negotiating with Ashcroft on the Port Loyola cruise project.” On the issue of a sovereign guarantee, Feinstein says that he never requested any.  In fact, it was Royal Caribbean that had asked for a sovereign guarantee.