P.M. Blasts Chamber; Threatens Tax Increase to Pay for U.H.S.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow pretty much said on Wednesday, that government won’t be paying the UHS loan that has ballooned to ninety million dollars and for which interest will keep accruing. The first to respond to this position was the Belize Chamber of Commerce and their statement has put them at war with the PM.  Following on his comments at a press conference, PM Barrow snapped at the private sector today questioning if they would recommend an increase in taxes to its membership to raise money for what he says they see as a debt of honor.  In a letter addressed to President Nikita Usher, the Prime Minister lashes out at the organization for being two-faced and insincere.  This is a reaction to government being chided for reckless legal gambling and costly litigation.  While the Chamber blames the past People’s United Party government for “the dishonest and negligent transaction that resulted in the secret guarantee for the UHS loan,” it says that the present U.D.P. administration is responsible for having allowed the debt to accrue an outrageous interest of over fifty-five million dollars.  This, according to the prime minister, is the chamber intimating that the debt ought to have been settled by his government.  Well, he hasn’t taken kindly to that criticism and openly questions whether the debt should have been paid after the Supreme Court decision or after the Court of Appeal’s ruling, to similar effect.  But as it relates to the highest court of the land, the chamber, has taken the position that no respectable organization can stand for such open disobedience of the Caribbean Court of Justice.   This is the initial reaction from the P.M.

Dean Barrow

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“Hypothetically, if in fact it is a no vote, I don’t agree that that amounts merely to kicking the can down the road, because I am saying that if my legal advice is correct, that judgment debt will never be paid for as long as parliament, reflecting no doubt the will of the country, decides that it will refuse to vote the money to pay the debt.  And I am repeating to you what I said earlier, there’s nothing especially unusual about this sir.  Countries all the time, for what they consider good and sufficient reasons, refuse to honor debts that they think are unconscionable, corrupt or unfair.”