Placencia residents reject the next Norwegian Cruise Line tourism development

Stake Bank is not the only island in Belize surrounded by controversy. Viewers will recall that when we last heard from Government about the plan by Norwegian Cruise Line, cabinet had rejected their proposed cruise port for Crawl Caye, but then suggested that they find another location more suitable. So said, so done…and within days, a deal was prepared for NCL to purchase the seventy-one acre Harvest Caye; less than three miles south of Placencia Point. End of story, right? Well, not quite. Over the last week, successive groups in southern Belize have weighed in on the proposal…and the verdict is thumbs down. Wednesday night at a meeting attended by over forty members of the Placencia Tour Guides Association, that body overwhelmingly approved a resolution rejecting NCL’s plans along with the entire concept of large scale cruise tourism for the South. Reasons cited included environmental and social concerns arising from such large ships, displacement of traditional overnight tourism, loss of Belizean control and the relatively small economic impact generated by tight fisted cruise visitors. Similar statements of opposition to the NCL project on Harvest Caye have already been issued by the Placencia B.T.I.A., the Toledo B.T.I.A. and the Southern Environmental Association, with more groups expected to join the growing campaign in the near future.