Julius Espat Lambasts G.O.B. For Spending Petrocaribe Monies Without Approval

Julius Espat

The firebrand from Cayo South closed off the debate on Petrocaribe today, lambasting G.O.B. for its accessing and spending of the Petrocaribe monies without approval. Espat, as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, is named as the claimant in the lawsuit brought against G.O.B.

Julius Espat, Chairman, Public Accounts Committee

“That authority for such borrowing cannot—and I’ll repeat—cannot be lawfully had pursuant to section seven point two of the Finance and Audit Reformed Act. We have laws Mister Speaker and we have to follow the rule of law. And the prime minister, unlike me—I dah noh wah attorney—he noh got no excuse. He even try rail up with the judge so that yo can’t even ker wah case in front of the judge. That’s the level that he reaches. So he noh got no excuse. Section one-fourteen, two—and this goes further Mister Speaker because we are talking about our constitution—section one-fourteen, two of the Belize Constitution provides that no monies shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by the constitution or any other law enacted by the National Assembly or by an appropriate law or a law made pursuant to section one-sixteen of the constitution. And this is where I was looking at another thing that they are presenting. What’s it called, the Supplementary Appropriations Bill, member from Rural Central? That again Mister Speaker, they are doing it unlawfully and I will explain and Mister Joseph Waight is wrong in what he said in the television—and I will explain why he is wrong. Mister Speaker, a supplementary bill supposed to be like a contingency. Under the laws of Belize, the Supplementary Appropriations Bill is not designed for you to come to this House two years after the fact and say boss I spend forty million dollars and I need approval for it. The law says, under the same Reform and Finance Act, that the maximum that you can deal with it in a normal situation is five hundred thousand dollars. You can come if it is an emergency. And you know what dah wah emergency? An emergency noh name Petrocaribe.”

Aside from the Petrocaribe Loan Motion, four other loans were approved by the House. The House adjourned minutes before six p.m.