P.U.P. Still Waiting for Audit Report on Net Vasquez

Net Vasquez

At today’s press conference the issue of a contract issued to Tropical Vision Channel Seven was also raised.  Opposition Leader John Briceño has written to Prime Minister Dean Barrow in reference to the scandalous allegations of abuse of office and misuse of corporate credit cards allegedly by Nestor Vasquez, the former chairman of B.T.L. who resigned when the matter came to light.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges were made for personal expenses on the company’s credit card and that a bloated contract was given to Tropical Vision Limited, Channel Seven which is owned by Vasquez. Six weeks have passed and the public has not heard a peep from the government. The P.U.P. is calling on Barrow to disclose the audit report, copy of the bloated contract to Channel Seven and whether the board has sued Vasquez. Attorney for the P.U.P. Eamon Courtenay spoke on the matter today.

Eamon Courtenay

Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for P.U.P.

“Because we don’t have full access, we have only been able to do some investigation so far and I think the Belizean people must ask themselves; we are talking about a credit card. How long does it take to print all the statements relating to that credit card and to add up and find a total to see how much was charged on the credit card used by the executive chairman of Telemedia? It is now weeks since this matter has been made public. We need to know. Sources in Telemedia tell us that at highest, the figure was more than half a million dollars. What is it that they are investigating? Is this a cover up? But let’s go further. A contract was given by Belize Telemedia Limited, under the chairmanship of Nestor Vasquez to Tropical Vision Limited, owned by the same Net Vasquez. We haven’t seen the contract. Why can’t Mister Slusher, who is now the chairman, photocopy the contract and send it to the media by 11:15 this morning so that the Belizean people can see what is in that contract? Is it that we are going to see in a contract that is approximately six hundred thousand dollars in value, discounted by half to approximately three hundred thousand dollars so that approximately three hundred [thousand] dollars can be credited to the debt of Mister Vasquez so as to bring down his liability to Belize Telemedia to around three to four hundred thousand dollars? Is that what we are going to see? Mister Slusher, you have until 11:15. Disclose the contract. Send out the credit card statements. This is not a private company; this is a company for which the taxpayers of this country paid over half a million dollars for.”