Ashcroft open to mediation?

Audrey Matura-Shepherd

Audrey Matura-Shepherd also says she spoke of the possibility of reaching an agreement through mediation, to which Lord Ashcroft was not opposed.

Audrey Matura-Shepherd, Attorney

“The third question about is there room for compromise….to me that was a logical question for me to ask because if you are telling me. I am an attorney and if my client says they will litigate to death, I know that one of the things we are taught is mediation and negotiation. So I had to ask if there is room for compromise because Belize will pay a high price. I don’t know if people notice 2017 is not only a year slated for an election. But 2017-2018, a lot of things will change. Sugar is uncertain, Petrocaribe money will become due; that we know for sure. We know that the world economy, we don’t know the stability of oil prices; we know that our oil wells have been depleting—only one has been producing—and on top of that, we still have the super bond to pay. And what we are incurring—no matter how anyone wants to see it—I’ve always said it and I will say it again; there is no way that he Mister Ashcroft will not get some payment for his assets that were taken away from him.  The fight might be over quantum. And it doesn’t matter how much they fight, that they will come. Whether you like it or not, you have to be real. So I had to ask him that…is there room for compromise. And to my satisfaction, his answer was yes.”

Members of the CWU on hand this afternoon also expressed support for Matura Shepherd’s actions.