Billion-Dollar Port Battle Brewing off Belize City

Two massive port projects, nearly one-and-a-half billion dollars in combined investment, could soon compete side by side. But while the government is leading the nine-hundred-million-dollar Port of Belize project, Olo Caye’s developers plan to invest six hundred million dollars of their own. So, will Olo Caye receive the same concessions, tax breaks and exemptions, or will government backing tilt the playing field? We asked.

 

Pierre Dibattisa, President, Olo Caye

“Maybe my answer might surprise some of you, but we are big fans of Port of Belize, because the tourism industry is a little different from the other industries. The tourism industry is common with fashion. The more people wear a brand such as Armani or Louis Vuitton, the more people choose it and the more people want to buy it. The more people are going to be promoting Belize, the more people are going to be willing to buy Belize. Port of Belize, a third port, a fourth port, let us go with it. In Roatan we already have two ports, we need a third port, there is space for a fourth port. Tourism is a very peculiar industry. The more people selling the same product, the more people wants to buy it.”

 

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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