7 News Belize

Cruise Port Craziness?
posted (September 8, 2017)
Just two weeks ago, Government signed what it called a "Definitive Agreement" with the Feinstein Group to build the Stake Bank Cruise Docking Facility. That would be the first Cruise terminal in Belize where ships would actually be able to dock at the port, and not have to use cruise tenders.

And now, there are reports that another agreement has been signed, this one with a group called Port of Magical belize.com. They say they want to build their own Cruise Ship Docking Facility which will be on a parcel of land along the coast just south of the Sibun Rivermouth in the Belize District.

Port of Magical belize.com - which, oddly, even with a name like that, doesn't seem to have a website - is led by long time Cruise Tour Operator, David Gegg, and Free Zone businessman, Gulab Sharma.

According to a government press release, they will construct a cruise docking facility to accommodate four Oasis class cruise vessels - and many other wondrous attractions including a Five (5) Star 300 room hotel and a water theme park.

It sounds very grand - perhaps a bit too much so - and the release says the total estimated investment for just Phase I of the Project is US $150 million.

It caught our eye that Minister of Defense John Saldivar - signed The Memorandum of Understanding along with Minister of Economic Development Erwin Contreras while David Gegg signed on behalf of Portico Enterprises Limited. We mention Saldivar's presence because the Ministry of Defense doesn't have any known connection to investment. Notably, also, the Cabinet Investments Committee, which vets all investments was not mentioned.

It is left to be seen if this project gets off the ground, since Stake Bank had no less than an act of Parliament and was still languishing for years.

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7 News Belize