By: Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize – Special Feature

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Thursday 20th November 2025

There are court judgments… and then there are political earthquakes.

What the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) delivered in the Controller of Supplies & Others v. Gas Tomza Ltd & Others case is nothing short of a shockwave that should rattle every Belizean, every businessperson, and especially every foreign investor who dares to believe that Belize offers a predictable rule-of-law environment.

For decades, the private LPG companies — Gas Tomza, Belize Western Energy, Western Gas, Zeta Gas — did the work no one else would: they built a national industry. They invested millions in storage facilities, import terminals, trucking fleets, cylinders, distribution networks, retail sites, and safety infrastructure. They opened the LPG market in Belize long before the Government of Belize even understood its logistical, safety, and economic complexities.

And then, in one sweeping piece of legislation, the Government — led by the Briceño Administration — took it away.

Not by buying their facilities.

Not by compensating them.

Not by phasing them out.

But by simply legislating their business model out of existence.

And now, the CCJ — Belize’s final appellate court — has declared that no constitutional rights were breached … and that these long-standing investors are entitled to no compensation whatsoever.

This is the moment Belizeans must confront:

If this can be done to companies that built a national industry over 25 years, it can be done to ANY investor.

A MONOPOLY CREATED BY LAW, NOT THE MARKET

Let us be absolutely clear about what happened.

In 2019, the Government created the National Gas Company (NGC) — a semi-state monopoly with politically connected shareholders — and wrote into law that only NGC could import LPG into Belize.

Private companies were suddenly forbidden from importing the very product they had supplied to the nation for decades. Their import permits were worthless. Their business model was gutted. Their capital investments became stranded.

When litigation began to bite, the Government amended the Act in 2021 and claimed:

“You can import — BUT ONLY IF you build a storage plant with 1.5 million US gallons capacity.”

No private company in the region has such a facility.

Not even Mexico’s mid-sized suppliers.

Not even the NGC itself owned one at the time.

It was a regulatory fiction, a paper gateway designed to create the illusion of fair competition while ensuring the monopoly remained intact.

The Belize Court of Appeal — to its credit — saw straight through it.

They declared the law unconstitutional, struck down the storage requirement, and ordered the case back to the High Court to properly assess damages against the Government.

THE CCJ STEPS IN — AND EVERYTHING CHANGES

Then came the CCJ.

In a dramatic reversal, the CCJ quashed every constitutional finding, overturned the Belize Court of Appeal entirely, restored the Government’s monopoly framework, killed the damages assessment, and refused any constitutional compensation.

But the real shocker came earlier — during the oral hearing in Port of Spain.

Government attorney Eamon Courtenay told the CCJ that when a government passes “regulatory legislation of general application,” courts should generally not award compensation, even if existing businesses are wiped out — because it is a policy matter.

In other words:

As long as the State destroys your business in the name of “regulation,” the Constitution will not protect you — nor compensate you.

And the CCJ, through its final ruling, has now confirmed that principle for Belize.

THE MESSAGE TO FOREIGN INVESTORS IS TERRIFYING

If you are a foreign investor reading this — whether you build a port, a power plant, a manufacturing hub, or a distribution network — the CCJ has now placed the following sign at Belize’s front door:

**“Invest at your own risk.

Your business can be legislated away tomorrow.

And the final court of Belize will not help you.”**

This is not an exaggeration.

This is exactly what the Gas Tomza case demonstrates:

• Private companies invested for decades.
• They built the infrastructure the government now benefits from.
• Government changed the rules overnight.
• Government created its own monopoly with preferential treatment.
• The Court of Appeal said rights were violated and damages should be assessed.
• The CCJ wiped all of that away.

This is the kind of judicial outcome that stops foreign direct investment dead in its tracks.

No investor — American, Mexican, European, Taiwanese, Chinese — will gamble millions on a country where:

• legislation can erase your business the day after you succeed,
• the Government can piggy-back on your infrastructure while banning your imports,
• and the highest court will not uphold your right to property, nor your right to carry out your trade.

THE ICY FEAR: IF THEY COULD DO IT TO LPG, WHAT STOPS THEM FROM DOING IT TO…

• Electricity generation?
• Fuel importation?
• Grain importation?
• Telecommunications?
• Seaports and terminals?

• Pharmaceutical distribution?

• Agro-processing?

• Shipping & logistics?

• Tourism concessions?

Absolutely nothing.

Once the doctrine is accepted —

“Regulate away the investor, compensate no one” —

the door is wide open.

This is why the Gas Tomza ruling is not just a private tragedy.

It is a national economic warning siren.

THE TRANSPARENCY PROBLEM — WHERE IS THE 200-PAGE JUDGMENT?

Another troubling issue:

The CCJ reportedly issued a 200+ page judgment, yet as of today it is not publicly posted on the CCJ website or in open-access legal databases.

The public only knows what the 7-minute oral summary disclosed.

For a case affecting national energy security, constitutional rights, investor confidence, and the future of a major industry — this is unacceptable.

Belizeans deserve to read the full decision.

Investors deserve to read the full decision.

Lawyers, economists, and legislators deserve to read the full decision.

Why is it not yet accessible?

Why the delay?

Why the opacity?

Transparency is a cornerstone of justice.

When it is absent, suspicion grows.

THE REAL QUESTION BELIZE MUST ASK

The CCJ was embraced as a replacement for the Privy Council under the promise that it would:

• be more accessible,
• protect rights more vigorously,
• understand regional realities,
• deliver justice without political pressures.

But with this case — in the eyes of many — the CCJ risks looking like a court too sympathetic to governments, too deferential to “policy,” and too willing to let constitutional protections bow to political or economic convenience.

It risks appearing like a court that tells private investors:

“Belize belongs to its governments, not to its people, and certainly not to you.”

If this perception takes root, Belize’s investment climate will suffer for years.

THE CONCLUSION IS INESCAPABLE

What happened to Gas Tomza and the other LPG companies was not “reform.”

It was not “policy.”

It was not “modernization.”

It was the legislative displacement of private industry —

and now the judicial ratification of that displacement, without compensation.

This sets a precedent that threatens:

• investor confidence,
• constitutional rights,
• regulatory fairness,
• and ultimately Belize’s economic future.

Belize cannot develop if its government — backed by its highest court — can wipe out decades of private investment with the stroke of a pen.

Foreign investors will read this ruling.

Local investors will read this ruling.

Banks, insurers, and lenders will read this ruling.

And the conclusion they draw may be devastating:

“Belize is not safe for long-term investment.”