Senators Clash over B.T.L.’s Investments

During his budget presentation, Private Sector Senate Mark Lizarraga touched on Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited, both companies nationalized by the government.  Senator Lizarraga reminded the government of the glorious returns that was expected after the nationalization of B.T.L.  He said that he has seen no record of any projects, prompting a response from U.D.P. Senator Macario Coy.

Mark Lizarraga, Senator for Private Sector

“Let’s look at the dividends from B.T.L. and B.E.L.  Now these were the investments that were going to b ring Belize to glory. These were the investments that were going to give us two hundred million back in a fun that we could have project for, for the Belizean people. Well I don’t know what happened to that fund and I have not seen nothing built yet from that two hundred million plus.”

Macario Coy

Macario Coy, U.D.P. Senator

“B.T.L. has been providing quite a number of scholarships to high school students every year. B.T.L. has been putting WIFI in the parks.  I can talk about Punta Gorda. Right around the B.T.L. office in Punta Gorda Town we have WIFI. I do go there sometime. I sit by the roadside and use the WIFI. I can’t say lie to that Mr. President. So for us coming to this side and saying that these companies are not trying to do anything- we have seen some major developments.”

Mark Lizarraga

Mark Lizarraga

“You know how much dividends we have been collecting? The same dismal, this is over one billion dollars- you do the math. We are making about ten million dollars a year. Divide ten millions into one billion, how long will it take us to get a return on investment? We could have gotten a better return in investment if we put the money in credit union and help the poor people barrow money.”