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Turkish Group Says It May Buy Belize Tourism Village

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A report in the ISTANBUL – Hurriyet Daily News today states that a Turkish company, Global Liman Isletmeleri, the port administration unit of Global Investment Holdings, is looking to purchase the Belize Tourism Village and a port in Roatan, Honduras.

Global’s 100-percent affiliate, Global Liman Isletmeleri, recently initiated talks to purchase the Belize and Roatan facilities, according to a statement from Global Yatirim Holding quoted in the Hürriyet Daily News.

The Belize Tourism Village is located in Belize city and is managed jointly by Fort Street Tourism Village and Diamonds International of Florida, serving up to 850,000 cruiser passengers annually.

Roatan Port, on the Roatan Island of Honduras, is run in a partnership between Royal Caribbean Cruises – at 99 percent – and the Honduras government. The port serves 400,000 cruiser passengers annually.

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Commentary: Belize – Analysis Of Our Paralysis

May 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

24 May 2010 – by G. Michael Reid. Belizeans remain dismayed and shocked at
the seemingly endless and escalating state of crime in our country. 
Many remember the simpler times when we could walk the streets,
feel safe in our homes and hang out with friends without care or
concern.  Those days are long gone for somewhere along the
line, something went terribly wrong.

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Commentary: Belize Fishing – Same Fish Another Route

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

16 May 2010 – By Chris Harris. The recent published report on the Jamaican proposals to export fish from Belize, and subsequent radio interviews, were very much one-sided, incorrect and misleading.

Having failed in their attempt effectively to muscle in on Belize’s commercial fishing, the Jamaicans now claim they are not interested in fishing, just processing and exporting fish from Belize.

pole-fishing-south-belize-250.jpgThe government should be congratulated on its swift response to the original proposal by saying a firm NO to Jamaican vessels fishing in our waters. They should be further congratulated on having thus far refused to grant an export license for this new version of the proposal. Make no mistake: it’s the same people trying to gain access to our fish stocks by another route.

From the government’s perspective it’s a difficult situation.  The country desperately needs foreign exchange, desperately needs job growth, but is rightfully mindful of the health of the marine environment with its major implications for both our tourist industry, but much more importantly, for our ability as a nation to feed ourselves in the light of the imminent global food crisis.

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Belize NGOs Call For Ban On Offshore Oil Exploration

May 12, 2010 By 3 Comments

Belmopan, Belize, 12 May (Belizean.com) The Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations, APAMO, has called on the Belize government to ban offshore oil exploration. APAMO is the umbrella organization for Non Government Organizations involved in managing protected areas in Belize.

belize-oil-concessions-map-2010.jpgAt its Annual General Meeting yesterday, APAMO Chairman Mr. Edilberto Romero told the media that "The position of APAMO is to call on the government to put a
complete ban on oil exploration on our offshore areas. The oil exploration
activities offshore are too risky for our natural resources, too
risky for the coral reefs, too risky for the Belize Barrier Reef World
Heritage System. APAMO members have agreed to put a resolution to call
on the government to put a complete ban on oil exploration on the
offshore." (Image shows oil exploration concessions in Belize offshore waters.)

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Belize To Leave British Privy Council

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Belmopan, Belize 11 May (Beizean.com) The Belize Government has announced it will no longer send appeals cases to the Privy Council in the United Kingdom starting June 1st of this year, according to local media sources monitored here today. The government said its appeals cases will now go to the recently formed Caribbean Court of Justice headquartered in the republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The London-based Privy
Council has been the highest court of appeal for many former
British colonies such as Belize. But several of these nations have been removing themselves from this jurisdiction as an act of nationalism.

Belize recently made headlines when it enacted legislation allowing the government to prevent investors from seeking redress at international arbitration. The Supreme Court of Judicature Amendment Act was passed into law on April 1st 2010 and has seriously flawed Belize's regime for foreign investor
protection according to several legal experts.
 

The Act gives the Belize Courts jurisdiction to issue injunctions
against investor companies or international arbitrators restraining them
from commencing or continuing with arbitration proceedings or from
seeking to enforce an arbitration award, in Belize or abroad. The Belize
Courts may also actually declare an award given by an international
arbitration panel as null and void.

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Commentary: Land Always A Hustle By Belize Politicians

May 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Belmopan 9 May (Belizean.com) The truth is that an illegal activity in the distribution of land in communities across Belize has been and is a common practice. Village leaders have been accused of selling and knowingly issuing lands already in other people's names to their supporters and cronies, almost always with the support of, and nod from the area representative. Illegal land acquisition, distribution, etc., are endemic to the land distribution system in Belize.

That any application for land within a village must have the blessings of the area representative is beyond me, aside from the political stranglehold the area political representative has on the distribution of land in that community. The area representative knows nothing about that community except from occasional campaign visits and hearsay from his cronies.

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