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It was one of the biggest controversies to rock the Barrow administration in 2008, the controversial contract signed between President of the National Institute of Culture and History Dianne Haylock and Belize City based tourism developer David Gegg. The deal was that Gegg would construct a concession facility at the No Hoch Chen site, also known as Jaguar Paw for visitors to use.

But after allegations emerged that the NICH board was neither aware of nor had it ever ratified the contract, Haylock got suspended and the contract itself was brought under judicial review by Donna Young, the proprietor of the Jaguar Paw Resort which operates in the same area.

Through her attorneys, Godfrey Smith and Elson Kaseke, Young claimed that the deal gave Gegg an unfair business advantage. She also asserted that the site was not an archaeological reserve and therefore, the entrance fees she and her guests had been paying for almost seven years, which amounted to more than three hundred and eighty thousand dollars, should be refunded.

The judicial review was heard by Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh and this morning, after weeks of deliberation, the CJ handed down his decision in the case. The judge declared that any contract made by the board must comply with the National Institute of Culture and History Act. Viewers should note here that during the initial proceedings, the NICH board had conceded that the contract would need to be “re-executed” in accordance with the law. Following that concession, all the parties were left to quarrel over the issue of the refund of monies.

On that point, the CJ found that No Hoch Chen is in fact not an archaeological reserve and therefore there was no legal basis for the collection of an entrance fee of ten dollars per person. However, the CJ did not grant the refund saying that Donna Young had not quantified the exact amount or proven that the entrance fees that she did pay to NICH were not simply passed on to her guests.

In fact, the court went as far as saying that the original object of the case was the Gegg contract and that the refund issue appeared to be an “afterthought”. Moreover, the CJ found that NICH had used some of the monies to make improvements to the road which also benefits Young’s resort.

With that ruling, the Chief Justice then went on to order Young to pay a fixed amount of ten thousand dollars to Dianne Haylock to cover her legal costs. Simultaneously, he has also ordered NICH to pay the costs for Young’s two attorneys.