Supreme Court Grants Interim Injunction on Disbursal of C.W.U. Funds

Hector Guerra

This morning, inside the National Bank parking lot in Belize City, as many as one hundred and eighty-five stevedores gathered to receive payment from the seven-figure compensation that the Government of Belize has made available. It is restitution for the privatization of the Port of Belize Limited back in 2002. But the one –point- five-million-dollar payout is not without controversy. P.B.L. is suing the Christian Workers Union for a little over one million dollars for losses suffered when the stevedores took industrial action in January. On Friday, an application for a court order to prevent the disbursement of that sum was filed on behalf of Arturo “Tux” Vasquez before Justice Lisa Shoman. The matter was scheduled to be heard in full today but the Christian Workers Union, on Sunday, proceeded to make out checks for its eligible members. That decision flew in the face of the court’s position that the monies in question should have remained untouched until the matter has been heard. This afternoon, via a virtual session, Justice Shoman granted an interim order prohibiting the distribution of those funds until March sixteenth when the case is expected to be heard or until parliamentary approval has been granted for such action to take place. Vasquez, who is the receiver of the Port of Belize, is represented by Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith and co-counsel Hector Guerra.

Hector Guerra, Attorney-at-law

“On Friday, there was a hearing in which all parties to this matter were represented by legal counsel. At that hearing, the matter was adjourned until today and so all parties, including the C.W.U. were aware that our clients, P.B.L. and Mr. Vasquez, would have been amending their injunction application to now direct it at the C.W.U. as a result of the fact that government had gone ahead to distribute those funds to the C.W.U. Of course, with that knowledge it appears, or at least certain representations were made as to the distribution of those funds. That is where Senior Counsel [Godfrey] Smith was coming from in terms of it being disrespect, an affront to justice because C.W.U. knew that an injunction application was pending that sought to enjoin the C.W.U. from distributing those funds. That notwithstanding, it appears, and we say appears because there isn’t any evidence yet filed before the court to properly put that as a live issue before the court. What the injunction order does is that it enjoins, it stops them from any further distribution of those sums. We think it’s crucial if justice is to be done in this case that the distribution be enjoined because we say, it is our fundamental position in this case that those monies were paid without the requisite parliamentary approval as required by the constitution which is the highest law of the land.”