A Letter from Sueno del Mar-Update
Dear Ambergris Daily
Thank you for publishing the editorial several weeks ago about Sueno del Mar and the efforts of its membership. 154 of us have signed on as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against British Caribbean Bank (also known as Belize Bank) and its Receiver, currently operating Sueno to the exclusion of the membership. We are seeking to have the Timeshare Act upheld and the resort re-opened, so that all of Sueno’s members will have their rights restored and be able to return swiftly to Belize.
We have been working on this matter for a long time, commencing last year when the Bank and Receiver closed the resort and then refused to recognize the membership. Our Sueno membership met in October and elected an informal advisory board. Since then, we have successfully petitioned the Government through the Belize Tourist Board, who subsequently issued a strongly worded legal opinion in support of the Timeshare Act and our position. We have also retained legal counsel to file and litigate our claim.
The Bank is using its muscle in an apparent attempt to force the Sueno membership to pay off a bank loan that we had nothing to do with. It’s been a nine month attack by the Bank on the Timeshare Act. The Bank actions have seriously harmed the reputation of the tourist and visitor industry here in San Pedro as well. Your cautionary warnings to anyone looking to buy a timeshare in San Pedro are based in reality. The law says one thing, but a project lender might behave otherwise.
And the Bank has also harmed the local economy by kicking out Sueno members. By our calculation, the Sueno membership was spending in excess of $6 million BZ in the local San Pedro economy each year, supporting direct employment, restaurants and stores, tour guides and yes, even Belize Bank itself, where many accounts were kept. That is, until last September when the Bank unilaterally seized the resort and took away the home-away-from-home for so many of us.
To all of our friends in San Pedro, thanks for your support and encouragement, and please be advised that we plan to win our case in court and be back with you soon.
–David Cartwright
