“That is a U.D.P. Debt” – Musa to Barrow on the $95.6 Million UHS Debt

Said Musa

Back to the House…Contributing to the debate was Fort George Area Representative Said Musa.  Musa was the Prime Minister at the time when the government decided to act as a guarantor for the UHS loan.  Back then, the Musa Administration had plans for the National Health Insurance scheme which fell apart after the Development Finance Corporation’s guarantee fell through. Musa asserted that his administration found monies to pay off the debt back then, accusing the Prime Minister of reckless misfeasance and saddling the Belizean people of a ninety five million dollars debt. Musa said the Government has an obligation to follow the rule of law and pay the debt.

Said Musa, Area Representative, Fort George

“The truth of the matter is, Madam Speaker, contrast that – those three facts – the guarantee I signed, the loan note I signed, have been held, upheld, not only by the Caribbean Court of Justice. The Honourable Member for Freetown has pointed out, by all the Highest Courts, the Privy Council, the London Court of International Arbitration and even the U.S. Supreme Court would not even look at it. Because the look at the papers, pleading, so to speak, and decide there is no merit in this thing and that was dismissed after spending millions of dollars in legal fees to benefit the Prime Minister’s family essentially. And here we are now, zero debt in 2008. Zero. Naught. Nothing owed in 2008. Now 2018, ninety-five point six million dollars. How can we explain that? How can we explain and blame the PUP for that? When the P.U.P., if you want to call it a mistake was made, we corrected that mistake. We paid off – we arranged to get the money to pay it off. But now, to compound what they call a mistake, or what you call corrupt, to compound that, they committed the biggest corruption. The biggest corruption. Because, I say that, when you look at the mess the U.D.P. Prime Minister has created through reckless misfeasance and I use those words reckless misfeasance, saddling the Belizean people with a debt of ninety-five point six million dollars. I accuse you of incurring this ninety-five million dollars debt. That is not a P.U.P. debt. That is a U.D.P. debt and it occurred because of your attitude.”