San Pedro Town, Belize, November 9, 2026 — A wave of public discontent is sweeping across Ambergris Caye as local residents, business leaders, and community advocates raise urgent questions about the lack of inclusive public input on a sweeping $600 million development package that includes a new international airport, a cross-island northern highway, and a planned marina at Santa Cruz Laguna, all of which appear to be moving rapidly toward implementation without broad community buy-in.
Documents obtained by local outlet News Five reveal that the New Ambergris Caye International Airport project has already cleared key preliminary administrative hurdles long before most island residents were fully informed of its full scope. A 2025 March 24 Request for Expression of Interest from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) outlines that construction on the new northern island airport is slated to launch as early as 2027, with full completion targeted for 2029. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has also listed the airport as an official investment opportunity under a public-private concession framework, with plans to repurpose the existing John Greif II Airport site for large-scale real estate development once operations shift to the new facility.
While Belize’s Briceño administration has publicly pledged that any transition away from the longstanding John Greif II Airport will be managed through careful coordination with airlines and deliberate planning, local stakeholders say the limited, single presentation hosted by the San Pedro Town Council earlier this year does not qualify as meaningful consultation. Community members argue that top-down planning for such transformative infrastructure threatens to upend the island’s tourism-driven economy, which has been built around the convenient, centrally located existing airport for decades.
Jennise Staine, executive chef at iconic local restaurant Elvi’s Kitchen, emphasized that inclusive consultation is the foundation of effective local governance. “Any good leader serving a Belizean constituency should prioritize keeping the people they represent happy, and you do that through consultation. If you do the right thing by your community, you can earn their trust for years,” she said.
Father Eduardo Montemayor, pastor of the San Pedro Catholic Church, echoed the widespread shock among residents who initially welcomed news of a potential new airport, only to learn that the existing John Greif II facility is scheduled to be shuttered entirely within two to three years. “I saw posts online about a new airport and thought that sounded like a positive development, but then the news broke that our current airport would close entirely soon after the new one opens. That is an entirely different narrative, one that will cause deep, lasting harm to our entire community,” he noted.
Community leaders also raised alarms over the parallel construction of a 40-foot-wide northern island highway, of which at least three miles have already been completed with minimal public disclosure. The Ministry of Infrastructure Development has confirmed it is not overseeing the road project, and the Briceño administration has yet to release public details on the project’s total cost, awarded contractors, or the source of construction materials. When questioned by News Five reporter Paul Lopez, San Pedro Town Mayor Wally Nunez stated the road is a joint project between the national government and the town council, framed as a solution to reduce disruption to local sea turtle nesting sites along coastal beach access routes. Nunez also clarified that he personally opposes any future overland connection between Ambergris Caye and mainland Mexico through protected reserve land, noting that existing maritime access points are sufficient for cross-border travel. When pressed to disclose the owner of the private quarry supplying the road’s construction materials, Nunez promised to share the information at a later date but did not provide immediate transparency.
Co-chair of Ambergris Caye Citizens for Sustainable Development Jose Arceo pointed out that the full $600 million project bundle, which includes the new airport, the extended northern highway, and the far-north Santa Cruz Laguna marina, has never been laid out for full public review, with critical details on the road’s final northern route still undisclosed. As community outcry grows, the central debate now hinges on whether the Briceño administration will pause the already advanced pre-construction planning process to hold genuine, inclusive public consultations, or move forward with the projects as currently drafted despite widespread resident pushback.