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Controversial developer Luke Espat is about to go to war with the Government of Belize over his Cruise Terminal Project in the Port Loyola area. Government this week ordered Espat to stop filling the land because he was trespassing on government property. Espat says he has paid for the land and it is a fight he will take to court. But before it goes to court, this morning it played out in the streets - Albert Street to be precise. Keith Swift has the story.

Keith Swift Reporting,
This was the scene this morning on Albert Street as a caravan of defiant truckers brought traffic to standstill. Their destination was Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s law office.

Truck Driver #1,
“We understand from our boss who we are working for that Dean Barrow stopped our job. We come to find out from him what is going on because we have about 60 trucks working out there and that’s 60 drivers and you’re talking about 60 families. And in these hard times we want to know what is going on. It is Christmas time, we want to know what is going on. The man is talking about creating jobs and they just stop the job without telling us anything.”

Truck Drive #2,
“If he could find jobs everyday for those sixty drivers, if he could give us jobs for everyday then we don’t mind but this is the only thing going on. How are we supposed to get money? How are we supposed to eat? Right now it is Christmas. He shouldn’t stop the job, at least he could have stopped the job long before so we know what we were supposed to do or stop the job after Christmas. But why would he stop it now.”

Keith Swift,
Who is your boss?

Truck Driver #1,
“I work for Bella Vista.”

Truck Driver #2,
“I work for Indeco. Everybody out here is for the two sides, everybody just come together because it doesn’t make sense. That is the only job right now.”

Keith Swift,
What do you hope to accomplish by bringing your trucks on the street?

Truck Driver #2,
“We want to show the man no job is there for we now. This is the only thing to do. What will we do now? What does he want us to do? Go to his house to eat everyday?”

Keith Swift,
But you know what you’re doing is illegal right?

Truck Driver #2,
“When other people have the riot on the road and thing they don’t stop that. We are truck drivers now, I might be the youngest one out here, I might be the youngest out here but I know what I do. I am a truck driver and this is what is helping me through life right now.”

Truck Driver #1,
“We aren’t blocking the street, we are passing through the city so the man will know and come and tend to us now. We won’t block the street, we just the pass through the city because it is only so that people listen to you; when you come with crowd. So we’re just passing through the city and make the Prime Minister or whoever stop the job, make them come tend to us. We’re moving out.”

And move they did but they didn’t leave quietly – they left with their horns honking. It also wasn’t the end since the truckers parked their trucks and walked from Yabra to Dean Barrow’s Office on Albert Street West where two teams of police officers greeted and blocked them from even coming close to the door - even though the Prime Minister wasn’t there.

And while City Councillor Phillip Willoughby tried to mediate, the issue is bigger than him. These trucks are out of work they claim because GOB has halted work at the Port Compound on Luke Espat’s $100 million Cruise Terminal Project.

Luke Espat, Developer
“We just received a cease order from the Commissioner of Lands saying that we are trespassing and it is land that belongs to the Port that we had paid for and I think there is a series of issues that have been pending with the Lands Department, the Environment, the same Ministry, and we have with government on this matter, we have met with the Prime Minister on this matter and we thought that all of this was settled.

I don’t think that the Prime Minister would have told us something that is not so. He assured us that the project had the full government support and that he would have taken this matter to the Cabinet to settle all impending problems as it relates to the issues that were at hand. Now we have found out that they have acquired back from us the garbage dump to do a transfer station on this site which we cannot have a garbage dump at the entry to the cruise terminal.

To hear that that is being acquired, to understand that there is no finality to where we need to go, we thought it was best, rather than to continue to have problems, to honour the stop order and send the truckers home, send the rest of workers home sometime this week.”

But don’t take that as a surrender. Espat this afternoon took us on a tour of the project site. He says he is already invested millions and if government wants to play hard ball – he’ll meet them in court.

Luke Espat,
“This land belongs to the Belize Cruise Terminal Project, the Port of Belize.”

Keith Swift,
You have a title?

Luke Espat,
“Well we have paid for the land but the government title but like anything else, government has the last say to do what they wish to do and then there is a court of law to settle it, which is what we need to do.”

Keith Swift,
And so that will be your next move?

Luke Espat,
“Well we have already started the process in that direction.”

Keith Swift,
What do you think is behind this?

Luke Espat,
“I wouldn’t know. It is confusing to tell the truth. I took the word of the Prime Minister or I could have been in court very very early. We thought that all this was settled. We stopped because government has stopped us but we are going to seek damages against what has happened today. This is going to be worked out against all the impending problems that we have had. But as I said, we are prepared to meet with the authorities at any time to answer any concern they might have with regards to the matter and to try to find a way forward with the assurance that we have full support of the government.”

Luke Espat says he had nothing to do with this morning’s protest because he doesn’t even directly employ the drivers.