A lawsuit involving the Government of Belize was filed by the principals of Stake Bank last August in which they are seeking one hundred and seventy-eight million dollars in special damages. The claim was brought against G.O.B. after developer Michael Feinstein said he lost significant potential revenue when government entered into the definitive agreement with Portico Enterprises Limited. But why has the matter been kept on the hush, despite the significant sum being sought by Stake Bank? We begin our newscast tonight with a look at the claim and how it all came to be. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
When ground was broken by the principals of Stake Bank Enterprise Ltd. in February 2019, it was with a plan that the tourism development project on the twenty-five acre island which bears the namesake of the company, would have been completed within a few years. That was five years ago. Since then, the location has been transformed from a barren island just a few miles off the coast of Belize City, to a construction site that is largely developed but unfinished.
In August 2017, Michael Feinstein and Stake Bank Enterprise Ltd. entered into a definitive agreement with the Government of Belize that allowed the company to build and operate the Stake Bank project, otherwise known as Port Coral. That contract would remain fixed for a period of twenty-five years and preceded the Stake Bank Cruise Docking Facility Development Act which came into being in January 2018. Despite the existence of the Stake Bank Definitive Agreement, GOB proceeded to approve another cruise ship docking facility in Belize District. That would be the controversial Port of Magical Belize.
In a claim brought by Feinstein and Stake Bank against the Attorney General and Portico Enterprises Limited, the parent company for Port of Magical Belize, special damages of almost one hundred and eighty million dollars are being sought for multiple breaches of that definitive agreement. According to a claim signed by Feinstein in August 2023, government entered into a memorandum of understanding with Portico in September 2017, at which point the Barrow administration, quote, indicated that it was considering granting the second defendant approval to construct and operate a cruise ship docking facility in or in the vicinity of the Port of Belize, end quote. This, says Feinstein, coincided with negotiations that Stake Bank was having with financial institutions to secure financing to construct the Stake Bank project. Stake Bank Enterprise was also in discussions with cruise ship operators to secure usage agreements to dock at the facility when the project was completed. It is alleged that news of Portico’s memorandum of understanding thwarted both negotiations and, as a result, prevented the construction of the Stake Bank Project from continuing.
When the Government of Belize entered into a definitive agreement with Portico in October 2020, it granted a thirty-year term for the Port of Magical Belize with a raft of excessively approving rights, tax benefits and duty concessions that GOB had never granted to any other investor or developer. According to Stake Bank, as a result of those breaches, it has suffered extensive loss and damage, as the project has been stalled for six years. The company, says Feinstein, has also lost projected net revenues for that period which comes up to one hundred and forty-eight million, four hundred and thirty-four thousand, four hundred and four Belize dollars. It also claims that it has incurred thirty million Belize dollars in additional interest during that period.
We note that while the suit against the Briceño administration was filed in the High Court in August 2023, it was never publicized. We also note that the claim was brought a little over two months after Anthony Sylvestre assumed office as the new attorney general.
Today, the Senate Special Select Committee resumed its inquiry into the Portico Definitive Agreement. Hugo Patt, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources, was the first witness to testify before the committee. Patt was much more cooperative than his former lands commissioner, even though he did not see any of the questions relevant to the motion at hand or the committee’s terms of reference. Dean Barrow, the former Prime Minister, appeared as legal counsel for Patt. A majority of the questions posed by the committee focused on those November fourth, 2020 land transaction approvals at the Ministry of Natural Resources. This time, questions were focused on seven companies that reportedly received nine parcels of fifty-acre lands, and why all seven companies had the same director. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Hugo Patt, the former Minister of Natural Resources, testified during today’s Senate Special Select Committee’s inquiry. Patt was the minister responsible for that department from 2018 up until the 2020 general election.
Hugo Patt
Hugo Patt, Former Minister of Natural Resources
“Whenever applications were submitted the process was very straight forward. Applications were submitted, made it through the process and eventually it ended up with me. As long as the application was recommended and it had met all the requirements then it was approved”
Kevin Herrera
Kevin Herrera, Senator
“What would have been some of those requirements?”
Hugo Patt
“I could not get into the details but of my mind, as long as the person is a Belizean that person could apply and another important one for the ministry is that whenever a parcel of land was applied the ministry had to make sure it was national lands in order for it to be processed.”
The committee, as it did with the former lands commissioner, continued to pose questions related to more than a dozen land transactions that were approved on November fourth, 2020, days before the last general elections. Those lands, located in the vicinity of the proposed site for the Port of Magical Belize, were divided into fifty-acre parcels and many were sold for below five thousand dollars each.
Kevin Herrera
“Would you recall whether or not Portico had applied for lands under its own name?”
Dean Barrow
Dean Barrow, Attorney
“Madam Chair certainly the general questions that the Senator is asked, he tries to be helpful. But I must reiterate that once the questions become specific regarding Portico and any application made in the names of Portico for lands. I think that is outside the terms of reference.”
The committee noted that it had documents from within the Ministry of Natural Resources showing that four hundred and fifty acres of land within in the area in question were approved for sale by the Ministry of Natural Resources to seven separate companies on November fourth, 2020. The same director was listed for all those companies, businessman Sunjay Hotchandani.
Bevington Cal
Senator Bevington Cal
“While approving these lands, especially for companies, would it be a concern to have differn5t companies applying the same day and same directors, would that be a concern?”
Hugo Patt
“Senator, whenever applications were accepted it is because they met the requirements. Whenever applications met the necessary requirements those were sent for processing.”
Kevin Herrera
“Mr Patt, would you recall a company called Keystar Limited?”
Hugo Patt
“Senator with much respect I don’t see the relevance of that question, nether to the motion or terms of reference.”
Kevin Herrera
“Would you recall a company called Fire Sky Limited?”
Hugo Patt
“With much respect, I don’t see the relevance of your question so I will exercisemy right.”
Kevin Herrera
“Same question, Vision Pro Limited.”
Hugo Patt
“I will reserve my right as a witness not to answer.”
Kevin Herrera
“Alkaline Limited.”
Hugo Patt
“I will reserve my rights not to respond to that question.”
Kevin Herrera
“Building Blocks Limited”
Hugo Patt
“Same Answer”
Kevin Herrera
“Kill Switch Limited”
Hugo Patt
“Same Answer Senator”
Kevin Herrera
“Build Zone Limited”
Hugo Patt
“Same Answer Senator”
Kevin Herrera
“The common director in all those companies is an individual Sunjay Hotchandani. Would you be familiar with him sir?”
Hugo Patt
“I don’t find that question relevant to the motion or terms of reference. So I will exercise my right as a witness to decline to answer, with much respect Senator.”
The committee further noted that three of those parcels were sold to Portico Enterprises. Two that were bought for five thousand dollars from the Government of Belize were sold off to Portico for fifteen thousand dollars. Interestingly, one parcel that Key Star Limited reportedly bought for thirty-three thousand dollars was also sold for fifteen thousand dollars.
Bevington Cal, Senator
“For the Belizean people to know, we got a document from the lands department that was shared to you that you don’t want to read, but I will read it for you. Coastal lands are usually sold at four thousand per acre and all of these lands issued at east of northern lagoon were sold at five thousand three hundred.
Mr. Patt with simple math, fifty point one acres of land on coastal lands is valued at two hundred thousand dollars. All of these were only sold for five thousand three hundred dollars. To me that sounds like a lot of revenue lost by the government of Belize during your tenure.”
Hugo Patt
“While the question is irrelevant to the Definitive Agreement I will have to state for the record that the social rates the ministry applied then had been there for time immemorial. It is not something I instituted. But as the former minister of natural resources I saw it as my duty to ensure that each and every Belizean gets a portion of land at very affordable and social rates.”
Today, one man is dead and several other persons were injured after a search and rescue operation between Turneffe and English Caye was carried out. This afternoon around 2 pm, the Belize Coast Guard received several alerts of a boating incident in the area. In these reports, they were notified of eight people in need of assistance and six coast guards were dispatched to the scene. In an operation taking just under two hours, seven people were rescued and one body recovered. We spoke with Melissa Jones, Operations Officer for the Belize Coast Guard for more information.
“Concerning today, we received a call at 2:38 p.m. from on e by the name of miss Briseidi Tzul reporting of a capsized vessel with eight individuals on board between the area of Tarpon Creek and English Caye.“
Britney Gordon
“So in this event, how many people were injured or were able to be rescued?”
Mellissa Jones
“After we received a call from miss Tzul, our quick response team departed our headquarters at roughly 2:40 p.m., and while making their way, they made contact with a sailboat by the name of Naidelyn, who had then, who was en route to Belize, who was the first to respond to the scene, and they had rescued four individuals and one motionless body. The crew then informed our commander of our quick response team that there were three more individuals in the water and due to the weather challenge of the wave conditions, they couldn’t have rescued those remaining three individuals. So with that information, our quick response team proceed in the general direction that they had informing them where there has rescued the four individual first and our crew rescued the three remaining individual at approximately 3:58 p. m. Roughly two miles east of Sergeant Caye and Pouch Caye.”
Britney Gordon
“So how many people were dispatched on this search and rescue?”
Mellissa Jones
“Our quick response team is consist of six individuals. “
Britney Gordon
“Okay, and how long did this operation take?”
Mellissa Jones
“I would say this operation takes under two hours.”
Britney Gordon
“And you mentioned that one motionless body was recovered. Can you give me any updates on that situation?”
Mellissa Jones
“When it comes to that one motionless body, all I can provide you with is that the body was retrieved from the sailboat, who had rescued the four individuals first, and we then ferried that body along with the remaining crew. So it’s a rescue of seven more individuals, and we brought them to our headquarters where the body is being handed over to the police.”
Britney Gordon
“What are the states of the other people that were rescued?”
Mellissa Jones
“There weren’t much injuries. There were one individual by the name of Mr. Jason Magana that was dehydrated and so our medic transported him to the KHMH.”
Britney Gordon
“Is there any updates on what the cause of this incident was?”
Mellissa Jones
“At this moment, no, I don’t have any other information concerning what caused it. The vessel to capsize.”
Britney Gordon
“So we just, are waiting on a police report to hear about the, the man that was motionless upon rescue?”
Last night, we told you about a tourist who is in police custody after allegedly scamming a high-end resort of twenty-seven thousand dollars in services. As we reported, a man who is identified as forty-year-old American national Nicolas Paula spent nine days at It’zana Resort and left the resort without settling his debt. He was detained in San Pedro on Tuesday. Well, News Five has learned that allegations against this individual surfaced from as far back as June 2020 in Costa Rica. A vacation home rental company in Costa Rica shared on social media that the same individual, who at the time was being identified as Christopher Marchena, was using pictures and videos of their homes to scam people. The report alleges that Marchena was deceiving people by offering them very low prices and asking for advance payments. That was almost four years ago and today he has found himself in a great deal of trouble far from home. Further allegations are that he scammed multiple business establishments in Belize. We continue to follow.
Thirty-eight-year-old Brandon Gillett, a court bailiff, appeared before the Chief Magistrate for a second time earlier today. As we’ve reported, he was arrested and charged in December 2023 for firearms offenses. This morning, when Gillett appeared in court, he requested a sentencing indication. He was informed that, by law under a section of the Firearms Act, the minimum sentence is five years. However, the Chief Magistrate, using her discretion as it relates to first-time offenders, can impose a lesser prison time for someone with no previous convictions. In Gillett’s case, she could sentence him to one year. Upon hearing that, Gillett told the court that he is prepared to go to trial and, with that, his case was further adjourned April thirtieth. At that time, Gillett is expected to be provided with disclosure in the matter and a new date for trial will be agreed upon. A search of Gillett’s residence in Los Lagos on December twenty-first, 2023, turned up a Springfield .223 rifle which was altered, as well as a nine millimeter pistol. He was charged with five counts of altering a firearm. He remains out on bail since December twenty-ninth after he was able to pay the ten thousand dollar sum.
Three alleged suspects, accused of the grave yard murder of eighteen-year-old Gabriel Tillett, appeared in court today to receive disclosure, however, they rejected the partial disclosure that the court was offering them. They are twenty-eight-year-old Samuel Trapp, twenty-three-year-old Robert Lamb and twenty-six-year-old Kevin Lanza.
Kevin Lanza
The trio appeared before the Chief Magistrate this morning where they were provided with partial disclosure in the amount of seventy-three pages. Lamb expressed his disappointment with the partial disclosure and told the court that it is unfair for the prosecution to provide them with only part of the evidence despite the fact that the period for disclosure had already expired. Lamb, Trapp and Lanza said that they will wait for full disclosure in the matter. Tillett was found dead inside the Lord’s Ridge Cemetery on July fourth, 2023. He had been lying face up with multiple injuries to the face.
Convicted prisoner Jonathan Felipe Lima, a Brazilian national, has escaped from police custody in Orange Walk. Lima, who was detained on an immigration offense, escaped from the detention cell at the Orange Walk Police Station this morning. Police say he was last seen wearing a grey long-sleeve jacket, black pants and white tennis. Anyone who has seen this escapee is asked to contact the Orange Walk Police Station.
There is a new recruit squad presently at the National Police Training Academy in Belmopan. The cadets are completing a program that sees them learning the theoretical and practical aspects of policing. Earlier today, they were out in the field assisting various communities in Belize City with cleaning up their neighborhoods. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
This morning in Belize City, teams of recruits from the Belize Police Department descended on various communities. The men and women who have enlisted in the law enforcement agency did not hit the streets to make arrests or restore order. Instead, they were in Lake Independence and other neighborhoods to lead a cleanup campaign, as well as to familiarize themselves with residents in those areas.
Insp. Ryan Timmons
Insp. Ryan Timmons, Regional Training Officer, Eastern Division
“This is the Recruit Squad 97. Recruit Squad 97 is over two hundred plus recruits who are currently in training. Right now, we have over about sixty plus recruits doing community service today. They are giving back to the community that they serve.”
Among them is Renisha Martinez. She comes from a family of police officers.
Renisha Martinez
Renisha Martinez, Police Recruit
“I had two biggest role models in my life that were police officers and also growing up into a family home as that, it was inspiring to me. I always wanted to be a police officer and actually, to get this opportunity to be here is a blessing.”
Today, she is with her fellow recruits and together they are beautifying neighborhoods across the city that are considered hotspots. They are also taking the opportunity to meet the people who live there.
Renisha Martinez
“We are actually doing some house to house meet and greet. We are doing this for the purpose itself which is to build a closer relationship with the people, also with ourselves, the law enforcement agency, also to protect and to provide safety for the people. So it’s also a good initiative to give back to our country and to be very thankful for everyone around.”
Also in Recruit Squad 97 is Rakeem Dawson. His reason for enlisting is to remove the stigma that is attached to the Belize Police Department. He boasts that his recruit intake is the most educated of the cadets taken in by the department.
Rakeem Dawson
Rakeem Dawson, Police Recruit
“There is this negative cloud over the police department. I know the entire country knows what that negative cloud is. I have a passion for serving my community and I believe that this is one way that I could give back to my community by helping to protect and serve. Some of the values that I’ve learned since joining Squad 97. We are young, energized and [Squad] 97 is actually one of the most educated squads to date. Most persons have an associates or even a bachelor’s degree in this squad. So the value here is to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the police department through two hundred and thirty-four recruits strong.”
According to Inspector Ryan Timmons, the objective is for the new recruits to learn interpersonal skills by engaging with members of the community at different levels.
Ryan Timmons
“Community interaction, community participation, community inclusion. We are going towards the area of community service, that they are giving back to the community that they serve.”
Isani Cayetano
“For an initiative like this, Inspector Timmons, one would want to think that perhaps you guys could have gotten some of the residents from this area to help to cleanup their neighborhood as well.”
Ryan Timmons
“Yes, and I need to mention that this is an initiative that we are partnered with the Belize City Council’s Sanitation Department, the community, the recruits, and other police officers. We were in the community from yesterday talking about what we are doing. Everyone sees it as something positive, like what I am saying, community interaction. When they are finished with the cleanup, they will be doing a meet and greet, going door to door, talking to members and residents of the neighborhood getting their feedback direct and concerns that they have for the police.”
In tonight’s episode of Meet the Candidates, we visit the island town of San Pedro where the incumbent People’s United Party is vying for a second term in office as the town council. They are facing a new United Democratic Party municipal slate led by career educator Wilfredo Alamilla. There’s a lot to cover on the island but tonight you’ll get a chance to meet a few of the aspiring councilors.
The United Democratic Party’s Belize City Municipal slate launched its manifesto this afternoon. They invited reporters to the Battlefield Park in Belize City to announce the plans outlined in the manifesto. Giving consideration to the fact that, for the most part, paper-based manifestos are outdated and everything is now moving digital, they have also made the document available online. Nelma Mortis, the U.D.P. mayoral candidate, explained that the manifesto is based on three pillars.
Nelma Mortis
Nelma Mortis, U.D.P. Mayoral Candidate, Belize City
“Here is a sample of it. This is an unusual way of launching a manifesto but my team represents one that is innovative. We think about digitization, technology and sustainability. So our manifesto is built on three pillars, which is unusual and some people are still struggling to internalize what it is saying because it is not totally aligned with the traditional manifesto and the act of the city council. However, urban planning requires us to reflect on this triangle which looks at economic growth, environment, and lastly equity which looks at social access.”
Alisha Craig
Alisha Craig, U.D.P. Councilor Candidate, Belize City
“This is our manifesto here. We decided to be a bit creative because the paper based one people look at it and get lost. So here at the back of the manifesto we have a QR code. So you take your cell phone, your camera out and you scan the QR code and it will take you to the link.”
