AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Belize by District Belize District Ashcroft Alliance Calls Portico Legislation "Wrongheaded, Abusive

The Port of Magical Belize - proposed for the southern Belize District - the signs suggest it's the Briceno administration's favored cruise port - and reports tell us that enabling legislation for it could be going to the house as early as next month.

That would be in addition to the Definitive Agreement signed solely by the former UDP Minister of Investment - which Prime Minister Briceno has said he considers to be binding.

So, things are all lined up for the Port of Magical Belize, and its parent group, Portico. But the Ashcroft Alliance is intent on breaking up that line. His attorney, Godfrey Smith wrote to the Prime Minister last week saying, quote, "our information (is) that your government intends very shortly to table legislation giving effect to the provisions of the secret, much maligned and discredited Definitive Agreement."

Smith adds, quote, "Our instructions are that, if your government persists in what would be a patently wrong-headed and abusive process to favour and advantage its preferred developer, without any regard for transparency and accountability, we are to immediately launch judicial review proceedings to challenge the propriety of such legislation and governmental action."

So, there it is, the threat of another legal entanglement with the Ashcroft Alliance, which has maintained that it received unfair and unequal treatment when its Waterloo Port proposal was rejected - while others, principally Portico - received environmental approval despite significant dredging dangers.

Interestingly, the CEO of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Kendrick Williams has written to Smith saying that his office - which is the secretariat for NEAC - also does not have a copy of the Definitive Agreement for Portico.

Channel 7

Finally! The Definitive Agreement Appears

For months now we've been reporting on the mysterious Definitive Agreement that the company named Portico signed with the former UDP minister of Economic Development and Investment. It paves the way for the Port of Magical Belize - an ascendant 350 million US dollar cruise port planned for the southern Belize District. It's got every kind of clearance necessary and the company also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. And reports say it's just days away from having enabling legislation tabled in the House of Representatives.

So it seems like a maximum green light from Belmopan - but we still don't know what's in the Definitive Agreement. It is a document that's been talked about so much - but it seems no one has a copy. In fact, in March even the PM said he hadn't seen it.

Well 7News has now obtained a leaked copy of it and, in part one of our look at the 30 page agreement, Jules Vasquez says he's never seen anything quite like it:

Despite the misspelling on the title page, the "definative" agreement makes no mistakes about giving Portico Belize some extravagant concessions - unlike any this reporter has seen before.

In a nice touch the document states it is between The Government of Belize acting by and through the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce.

One whole government represented by one Minister, Erwin Contreras who also signed it in October of 2020, a month before the elections, under the heading "Government's Obligations".

It compels the government to pass legislation to exempt the developer, the contractor and their subcontractors from the payment of any and all duties and taxes in connection with the importation, purchase or procurement of capital machinery ...as well as other technical services for the project.

It also exempts the developer from any income or business taxes during the term of the agreement. They're also exempted from stamp duty payable on transfers - including the transfer of land.

Government must also ensure that no third party competing with the developer within a 25 mile radius shall be given any tax benefits or duty concessions for a period of twenty five years from the Commencement date. We should note that both Port Coral and the proposed Waterloo port are within that radius.

Section 12.1.1.6 is also a doozy: it Exempts the Developer from all currency exchange control laws during the Term of the agreement.

Later on in the agreement it says that the government shall ensure that the developer is able WITHOUT RESTRICTION to purchase foreign currency.."

And it adds that the government shall ensure the availability of foreign currency for conversions ....."

And 12.5.1 says " the government shall ensure that the Developer is exempt from all currency and exchange control laws during the term" - which, again is 30 years.

Government must also provide, or secure the Developer's access to, Government land (including the seabed) required for the development of the Project, such as the construction of the access road, the lying down of the corresponding utility services and the disposal of dredged material onshore;

And if those obligations weren't binding enough, government must "Incorporate the Agreement as part of the Legislation".

The next obligation is pretty standard, it allows the developer to directly collect a head tax which it will share with the government and its functionaries.

It also allows the developer to collect tolls and other charges.

Government is obligated to introduce and pass the Legislation and it must, quote, "make all reasonable and legal efforts to ensure an expedited processing of the Legislation."

We have seen evidence that such legislation already exists in draft form and has been sent to Cabinet.

The sponsors of the Cabinet paper are the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Finance..

Cabinet Confidential: Support For Portico Legislation?

Earlier in the news we showed you the Definitive Agreement between Portico and the Government of Belize.

It compels government to create enabling legislation that will allow its fiscal incentives to be made into law.

And so what will Cabinet do? Well, it will do as it says it must. Jules Vasquez reports on a leak fo the Cabinet documents having do with the Port of Magical Belize:

The Cabinet confidential document tabled on May 15th informs Cabinet of the state of play with the Port of Magical Belize.

It makes no complaint about the definitive agreement signed by a single UDP Minister without his Cabinet's approval

It recaps the work done so far by the Port of Magical Belize and

concludes "it is now critical that the tangible support of the government be provided through

the requisite legislation which government committed to under the definitive agreement."

It requests that Cabinet approve the tabling of the proposed bill at the next sitting of the house.

A draft bill is attached, but the Cabinet paper says

that a final form of it must first be approved by the Attorney General's Ministry.

It does not say that the definitive agreement is a matter of any dispute at all, and in fact, neither did the Prime Minister when we spoke to him in March:

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We as a government, we are able to ensure that whatever investments or whatever approvals that were made by the government of Belize can be carried out. The definitive agreement - and I have not seen it - it was signed by the minister responsible then obviously it is going to be binding because it's the government of Belize that signed it. "

We'll keep following this story closely.

Channel 7

PM Backpedals on Definitive Agreement

Last week, the biggest news was that the long secret Definitive Agreement for the Port of Magical Belize had leaked. And so had the "Cabinet Confidential" cover document which was tabled at a May 17th meeting.

It's two extraordinary leaks in quick succession - and it shows that the PM's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is the one that took the paper to Cabinet. As we told you that Cabinet paper treats the Definitive Agreement as binding and urges ministers as follows: quote, "it is now critical that the tangible support of the government be provided through the requisite legislation which government committed to under the definitive agreement."

So, that came from the PM's Ministry - but as we reported on Friday - it was sent back by Cabinet, with the Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler leading the charge against the Agreement - which commits government to extravagant and unprecedented concessions.

So, where does that now leave the Prime Minister? Well he came back from a conference in Busan, South Korea this morning and the media was right at the airport to ask him. He said the enabling legislation for the Port of Magical Belize will still go to the house after it is renegotiated. And, he added that the same Definitive Agreement which he called "binding" in early March, he now says, "will not fly":

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Let me speak strictly to the matter that the paper went to Cabinet along with a copy of the Definitive Agreement. I want to make this very clear, I am very disappointed that this paper was leaked out. As you all know, when we were appointed to the Cabinet we signed an oath of confidentiality that what was discussed in Cabinet should remain there because that then disallows ministers to be able to speak their minds freely. The paper came to Cabinet, the Minister of Tourism, Anthony Mahler, then started to raise some concerns, rightly so, and then other ministers started to raise some issues. When I started to look at the issues that were being raised then I said that we're going to pull back this paper and that it has to be redone. I want to finish with this, that whenever we finish redoing that paper, whatever we take to the National Assembly, because it will be taken as part of a piece of its own legislation like what we did with Stake Bank, what we did with Harvest Caye, it will be no better or no worse than what Harvest Caye got and Stake Bank."

"Papers are prepared, they go to Cabinet, and then they're discussed, I can't speak more about what's going on in Cabinet, so when it goes to the House then we can have a full discussion as to what's going to happen. What I can assure you right now that whatever the UDP signed under the Definitive Agreement, that will not fly. We are going to be redoing it and I'll repeat once more that what goes to the House, to the National Assembly, will be no better nor no worse than what Stake Bank and Harvest Caye got."

Reporter:
"Are there any intentions to have any investigations launched into why Erwin Contreras signed this agreement?"

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Let me finish first with settling the legislation that will give the necessary development concessions to Port Magical or Portico and once we do that, then we will do whatever investigations that have to be done, we will do an investigation and if there was any corrupt act under the previous government, then we will act on it."

Channel 7