The Definitive Agreement - you've seen the Prime Minister tear it up - and publicly renounce it along with members of his Cabinet. But, what no one is even discussing is the project's Environmental approval which was signed in April of 2021 - in the early months of the Briceno administration.
As we've told you, it clears the way for significant dredging in the southern Belize District, and for creating land on the seabed - which requires special permitting.
Tonight, 7News has obtained the minutes of the NEAC meeting which led to that approval. It gives a telling insight into how the project received environmental clearance with a concerted push from the Chair, who is the CEO in the Ministry responsible for the environment. Jules Vasquez examined those minutes:
These are the minutes of the last NEAC meeting to review the EIA for the Port of Magical Belize.
23 members were present and it was chaired by CEO in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management, Dr Kenrick Williams - who was having his first meeting as Chair.
And their first matter to consider was Port of Magical Belize. The reviewed correspondences about the project dating back to October 2020 during the last administration.
The very first point minuted was from the representative of the Lands and Survey Department who noted that, quote, "the approval for the use of the seabed is still in discussion between the new Minister and the new (Lands) Commissioner."
Now - we know from the Definitive Agreement - that this project relies very heavily on use of the seabed to build an access road and an artificial peninsula.
The Definitive Agreement says government must "Provide, or secure the Developer's access to, Government land (including seabed) required for the development of the Project, such as the construction of the access road, the lying down of the corresponding utility services and the disposal of dredged material onshore;"
But, according to Williams in a later letter responding to a Freedom of Information Request - he never saw the Definitive Agreement.
And while he may not have seen the DA - the minutes of the meeting show the CEO constantly pressing to get past the many, many cautions about manatee populations and get to approval for the project, saying: "that the role of this Committee is to review projects and ensure that they meet the sustainability criteria…and not to impose barriers against development.
He added that the project had been under review for over a year, and that "it was time to make a decision."
As a compromise, the Chair ultimately recommends a phased approach, he says environmental clearance can be granted with a phased approach in three stages with thresholds for compliance being a prerequisite to movement to the next phase.
He suggested that the first phase should include the acquiring of a permit for seabed use from the Lands and Surveys Department, and the development of the manatee management plan, to be accomplished within the first 4 - 6 months.
But this follow up memo that Williams sent on the first March makes no mention of title for the seabed - which is not a small matter. That title - we have confirmed - still has not been given.
So it's unclear how the planned peninsula or the access road will be built - but access to the seabed is an important enabling pre-condition for the project.
But, even without it - full environmental clearance was granted in April of 2021, complete with a detailed environmental plan which makes no mention of the still pending seabed title issue, it simply says that crown land must be provided for a 6 mile road connecting he site to the Western highway. There's not much crown land in that area - so that land would have to rise presumably from the seabed - which is where a fair portion of the 8.5 million cubic yards of material would be dredged.
As you heard in the story, the Ministry of Natural Resources has not granted that clearance to create land on the seabed - without which the project likely cannot proceed.
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