House debate includes Carnival, Intelco and I.M.F.
The last regular meeting of the House of Representatives was on July sixteenth. Since that time the political temperature has risen sharply, with Prime Minister Said Musa facing near constant assaults from within and without over a number of pressing issues. Until today, however, many of those questions had yet to be debated in the legislature. And while the Opposition’s heat was not really felt until the closing speeches, it was clear that despite its healthy voting majority, the PUP is a party under pressure. Patrick Jones reports.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
?Six bills were introduced for their first reading including one for the establishment of the Belize National Coast Guard Service, a National Accreditation Council and one to amend the Lotteries Control Act to clamp down on offences. Minister of Home Affairs Ralph Fonseca, in introducing the Coast Guard Bill, said that with so much territorial seas, this new institution is long overdue.?
Ralph Fonseca, Minister of Home Affairs
?We have been noticing that we have so many different resources out there, human resources, actually resources like boats and they have not been coordinated and we have a large sea space area. Like I said, we actually have a lot more seas than we have land. So all that we are attempting to do now is to bring all of these resources together, have them fully coordinated under one leadership.?
Patrick Jones
?How will this be funded? Where is the money coming from for this??
Ralph Fonseca
?Ok well first of all, each one of these units right now got their own budgets. They?ve got their recurrent budget and then they?ve got their capital budget. So, all of that will be coming together into one under the Coast Guard then that would be the Government of Belize?s contribution. The U.S. Government and the U.K. Government are working very closely with us. As a matter of fact, the legislation is tailored off legislation that they have, in order for us to bring these resources together in a rational way.?
Fonseca says Belize will be looking to those two Governments for significant capital inputs especially in the area of high technology.
Patrick Jones
?Also at today?s meeting, Prime Minister Said Musa reported to the House on his recent meetings with international financial institutions. As a result the P.M. said a technical team from the I.M.F. will arrive next week to offer advice and assistance on G.O.B.?s debt stabilization plan. But members on the Opposition side, including U.D.P. Leader Dean Barrow, say the visit only confirms what they have been saying all along.?
Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
?What is happening is nevertheless a concession that we are in serious trouble. Now the I.M.F. has for a while now been pointing out exactly what is wrong and exactly what needs to be done. Government has before this committed itself to doing those things and hasn?t followed through. I don?t know that the presence of I.M.F. officials in country without the mandate that the formal structural adjustment programme would have given them will make any great difference. But I hope that it will because it is clear that we are going down a road that is quickly leading to the abyss.?
Patrick Jones
?Having said that, what would be your advice, or what would be the U.D.P.?s position, no doubt you are a party that hopes to be in government, and if elected you would find yourself having to deal with these difficulties. What would be your solution for getting us out of this financial mess that we find ourselves in??
Dean Barrow
?Well the prescriptions for rescue are pretty clear. We do need to stop the wild capital spending and we do need to exercise some discipline. What is at the root of all this–in our view– is corruption. I can?t put too fine a point on it; I can?t be too blunt. The over-spending, the ridiculous over-spending with respect to capital projects; the ridiculous over borrowing, what has happened with the mortgage securitization programmes, all these things have to do with Government channelling a great deal of the publicly available resources to friends and family, to cronies to fund projects that have more to do with feather bedding, than seriously with infrastructural improvement or quality of living assistance. So it really is that the Government now has to do a complete about face and prioritize its spending and make sure the spending is focused and that it is honest, accountable, properly managed spending.?
Prime Minister Said Musa
?Each of the I.F.I.?s, the International Financial Institutions, renewed their commitment to Belize. They expressed a keen interest in continuing to work in partnership with us. I therefore invited them to Belize jointly at the earliest possible time. They have agreed to come to Belize next week, one to asses our short term fiscal and debt management strategies and extend them into the medium term, and two to assess the plan for the restructuring of the DFC to eliminate further calls on Government for financial support and three to work with us to address weaknesses in economic and fiscal data compilation and dissemination.?
In response to a question posed by the Leader of the Opposition regarding the status of the Carnival Corporation/Port of Belize joint venture, Prime Minister Musa said the project remains on stream, although Government is now seeking clarification of some grey areas.
Said Musa
?Discussions will shortly be held with Carnival Corporation to clarify those provisions so as to address the concerns expressed in certain quarters. We are confident that these maters will soon be settled amicably.?
Dean Barrow
?I need to say that we do not have as the Opposition, as the U.D.P., a problem with the Carnival project. We do have a problem with some of the terms and conditions of the particular contract that has been signed. But a fifty million U.S. dollar project in which Carnival is saying that the downstream activities will be left for Belizeans, the tours and the shops that will abut the new tourism village, that all those service can be provided by Belizeans is a project that in principle we have to welcome. They really need to take out the clause in the contract that talks about not employing Belizeans that exempts them from compliance with our laws, that sort of thing. But once that is done, we will have to support the project.?
Patrick Jones
?But aren?t these some of the same clauses that the Prime Minister concedes that they are now looking to amend??
Dean Barrow
?Well that?s what I?m saying. He is not quite clear. He is saying that there are some clauses that require clarification. That is side stepping the issue. Those clauses don?t require clarification. Those clauses are clear. They require re-wording or being thrown out. And he has not said that that will happen. If in fact that does happen, then we would be happy to welcome the project.?
Barrow says a good place to start the country?s economic recovery is with a change of attitude in Belmopan and determination to move away from what he called ?crony capitalism? in order to put the country back of good in fiscal standing. But despite the hardships, the Prime Minister says he has no doubt that things will turn around.
Said Musa
?The Belizean economy continues to display strong growth despite the harsh global economic climate with the steep rises in oil prices. Our plan is designed to strengthen Government?s fiscal position in order to compliment the positive economic growth. The challenges we face as a nation calls for tough and creative decisions. I have no doubt that we are up to the task and that we shall overcome present difficulties.?
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
A meeting of the Senate is scheduled for Monday.
