“Environmental Clearance is Scientific, Not Political” – Piedroba Consulting

The Piedroba Consulting Group was brought on board by Waterloo to conduct all the technical works necessary for the proposal to be granted environmental approval.  Notwithstanding the scientific and fact-based approach, environmental clearance was denied twice.  According to Luis Prieto y Munoz, that decision appeared to have been political and not based on the merits of the proposal.

Luis Prieto y Munoz

Luis Prieto y Munoz, Piedroba Consulting Group

“I think that the point that we’re making is that the environmental community necessarily owed us anything, but the basis upon which they should approve or deny should be scientific and not political and I think it’s abundantly clear that that wasn’t the case this go around.”

Jelle Prins

Jelle Prins, Piedroba Consulting Group

“We understand the environmental approval process.  We have experiences in other countries around the world, there are flaws.  But for a process like this to be flawed and unfair, it’s hard to accept.  Why did Portico get an MOU one month after they incorporated the entity they were using for the MOU?  Why did they get a Definitive Agreement and why did government act for that Definitive Agreement?  We didn’t get any of those things and we’re the existing national port of Belize that we deliver cargo and bulk benefits to the people of Belize, together with preserving cruise tourism.  And that’s the one that didn’t get any of that.”

Luis Prieto y Munoz

“We ultimately approached this from a technical place.  We came in here with the perspective of this is an incredible piece of infrastructure, we wanted to be part of that team.  We became part of that team and we’ve been onboard for many years now, and as I mentioned, we’ve dealt with projects throughout the region.  Inevitably, a lot of these projects are always one proponent or another, but I think a very important element in any regulatory process is that it is blind to those things, it is merit-based and that it should be… a project’s approval should be based on facts.  It should be based on its scale, it should be based on its merits, the diligence of the teams putting together the work.  It should not be based on influence or reputation because those are ephemeral and topics which are changed from one day to the next and that shouldn’t be the way that a country develops its infrastructure.”