BTIA & Chamber Were Left Out of Airport Plans

The possible closure of the John Greif II Airport is raising questions about who was consulted before plans for northern Ambergris Caye took shape. BTIA President Efren Perez says neither the Belize Tourism Industry Association nor the Belize Chamber of Commerce had a seat at the table, despite a Prime Minister-established task force in 2022 that included private-sector representatives. Perez says these key business groups were left out of a strategic plan that could reshape the island and directly affect its tourism and business sectors.

 

Efren Perez, President, BTIA

“We believe that we have to sit down with all our stakeholders. We had a preliminary meeting in the center of town earlier this week with some of our stakeholders. We have another meeting scheduled for next week for the northern side of the island to also get their views and input. We are looking at what that feedback is. As Melanie mentioned there is going to be an economic impact in moving that airport from where it is up north. There has not been any consultations done, not with local residents, not with BTIA, not with Chamber of commerce and a number of other organizations that should have been consulted because of the membership they have.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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