Government of Belize Engaged in Discussions with Royal Caribbean

Prime Minister John Briceño

Prime Minister John Briceño also confirmed that the Government of Belize is engaged in discussions with Royal Caribbean. The cruise company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Portico and Boskalis, with the condition that the project receives legislative support from the National Assembly. The Leader of the Opposition has called on the government not to engage in any negotiations with Royal Caribbean, given the controversial nature of the Definitive Agreement. But, Prime Minister Briceño contends that the Opposition Leader is being hypocritical.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“This is the hypocrisy of the Leader of the Opposition. They were the ones doing all the negotiations up until they signed the UDP Definitive Agreement. To say that we should not, I repeat it, we will always do what is in the best interest of Belize. We have always supported, and that is what is unfortunate or the irony of all of this, we have supported Mister Feinstein every step of the way. I don’t want to say what all I have done for him as Prime Minister, but he knows it. But, his project is stalled. Waterloo, we gave them an opportunity to go to the NEAC. As I said to the main investor from Waterloo, as long as you go through and pass the NEAC approval then the government will support you. Portico, for one reason or the other got approval from the NEAC. Now, they are working on the implementation plan. Between then, there is a number of things you have to do. You have to look at other investors. When they got Royal Caribbean and Boskalis, two internationally recognized companies, they came to us and said we are prepared to invest. The people from Royal Caribbean, two of the vice-presidents, I met with them personally at my office in Belize City. They said, this is the best place because it will minimize whatever changes or damages it will have on the environment. They believe that it is the best spot and that is why they say that they would want to invest there. Because it is such a large investment, they would want to ensure that the National Assembly, as should be done like with BSI and Stake Bank, and Harvest Caye and others, they want to ensure that once that is passed they are prepared to come here. So, all we are doing is to facilitate a project that was started before our time.”