For weeks now, all the fuss has been about Harvest Caye and the proposed cruise destination that Norwegian Cruise Line wants to build on the island in southern Belize. But while that discussion has dominated the national discourse, the proposed Stake Bank project has slipped completely under the radar. That project, proposed by the Mike Feinstein Group would see the development of two islands off Belize City, Stake Bank for Cruise Tourism and Northern Drowned Key as a tourism destination.
It's major because it proposes to build a berthing facility where cruise ships can dock right off Belize City – and a causeway right through the Swallow Caye Wildlife sanctuary to shuttle them to and from the city and beyond. Indeed, it is as promising as it is controversial, but it's similar to Harvest Caye in that it is relying on an environmental impact assessment which was done years ago.
Stake Bank first came to prominence in 2006 – and that's when the EIA was completed. Now, the re-loaded version of the project is relying on that same EIA with a few addenda. Those addenda were before the National Environmental Appraisal Committee (NEAC) today. If approved, it would give Stake Bank the green light by approving an environmental Compliance Plan. The group led by the Chief Environmental Officer met for a marathon session today, starting at 9:00 and continuing until after 5:00 pm. At the lunch break we spoke with Chairman Alegria to find out about their deliberations:..
Martin Alegria - Chair, NEAC
"State Bank is one of the agenda items that we're discussing, still having deliberations, we had to break for lunch because the discussion is rich, so we'll be moving on on more concrete decisions later on this afternoon."
Daniel Ortiz
"Is State Bank the main focus of the NEAC meeting today?"
Martin Alegria
"This NEAC meeting, the agenda major is State Bank - not withstanding, we have other issues of the broader picture of Cruise Toursim also being part of - as you all know we have other types of proposals out there that may come or are in the pipeline that we have to consider in making decisions on a long term basis."
Daniel Ortiz
"Sir, we understand that two amended EIA's have been presented to the NEAC - can you confirm for us at least?"
Martin Alegria
"Your source is really good - this started long ago, about two or three years ago when the investors started to bring back the project that was approved already, both were approved in 2006 or 2007. It is reviving it with time things change, an addendum or two were done in order to look at both projects as one and that is what we're deliberating on and we don't have any decisions yet."
Daniel Ortiz
"We understand that the outcome of this meeting will determine whether or not the investor gets to move forward."
Martin Alegria
"Not exactly you know because in terms of the sustainable development, there are three or four pillars that we rely on and environment is one of those but you also have the economics and the social issues that need to go hand in hand."
At newstime, word coming out of the meeting is that, there is no final decision from the NEAC meeting. We spoke to the Chairman, Martin Alegria, a few minutes ago, who told us that they had to adjourn the meeting because it had run over the time, and issues were still being hotly and contentiously debated with no resolution in sight.
But, it seems, the pressure is on: Alegria added that he's been instructed that another meeting must be scheduled tomorrow, and if necessary, on Wednesday.
That has to be a major letdown for the Feinstein group; In timing that cannot be ignored, they will have a press launch of the Stake Bank and North Drowned Caye projects tomorrow, which is probably why NEAC is being pressed to a final decision. We'll tell you all about that announcement from the Feinstein Group on tomorrow's news.
Email
Print