Court rules printing contract be made public

The Belize Printers Association has won the latest round in its suit against government, as Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh has found that there was no compelling reason why the contract between GOB and Print Belize Ltd should not be made public. The group of private sector printing companies is now studying the contract in the hope that it will be declared illegal.

Late this afternoon News 5 obtained a copy of the document. Essentially, it sets up a special relationship between government and the company, which was converted from a government department into private ownership. The company then acts almost as an in house private printer for Belmopan, agreeing to a maximum mark-up of ten percent on direct and indirect expenses. In exchange, government pays a quarterly advance of six hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars to be set off against invoices submitted by various government departments. The company also receives a generous set of fiscal incentives. It will be up to the court to determine if the sale of the printery and subsequent five-year contract, all awarded without competitive bidding, constitutes an illegal act by government that must be either reversed or modified.