The Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera - it's the biggest, most glamorous film festival on earth - and this year, Belize is being represented by two A list political celebrities, complete with entourage. Tourism Minister Manuel Junior Heredia and Investment Minister Erwin Contreras are seen here hamming it up at a reception in Cannes. But, they weren't there to see which film would get the prized "Palme d'or," they were there to profile for investors who want to build a mega resort on Northern 2 Caye, which is in the Lighthouse Caye range in Belize. The Italian development group held a star - studded event in Cannes called the "Puerto Azul Experience Party at Cannes 2014." Heredia and Contreras were there, apparently as photo-bombing, tuxedo-wearing, government of Belize glitterati.
According to their website, the Puerto Azul Development is a large scale, super exclusive resort intended for the Northern 2 Caye at Lighthouse Reef. The website proposes all kinds of very high end offerings including 350 rooms, a golf course, a 250 boat marina, and its own small airport. But, Lighthouse Reef is a marine atoll and environmentalists say that scale of development would be an environmental disaster.
But, will Puerto Azul go through? And from the fact that we see the Ministers of Investment and Tourism hobnobbing all the way over there on the French Riviera, can we take it that government is on board with the plan?
Well one key minister who didn't go to Cannes, is Godwin Hulse. He chairs the Cabinet Subcommittee on Investment and yesterday via telephone we asked him about Puerto Azul:...
Jules Vasquez
"Is it a concern that the Turneff of the Lighthouse Reef and its marine protected areas and I heard that its 350 rooms, a golf course, a marina for 250 boats and an air strip."
Hon. Godwin Hulse
"We are not down that road at all, not yet. We are far from that road. We are at the stage where they have ask if if would be okay for them to begin preliminary study and we said yes go ahead and do your preliminary study. This is not contingent on any commitment or responsibility on the part of government to say yes. They want to do studies of the area, the water, the reef etc., to see whether in fact they themselves would want to do the project here or not and that is the stage that it's at."
Part of Tourism Minister Herredia's entourage includes his relative Horacio Guerrero, the recently appointed Deputy Film commissioner - who, we are reliably informed is not there on official duties, though he is at a film festival.
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