P.M. says enforcement order means paying compensation and damages
Dean barrow
The situation remains fluid. This afternoon we got an update from the Prime Minister. He admitted to News Five that he can’t disregard the ruling of the Appeals Court but that doesn’t mean that the government will hand over the company. In his view, handing over the company would be chaotic. So enforcement to him has another meaning.
Dean Barrow
“What the court handed down was what is known as a declaratory judgment—it declared what the legal position is. Such a judgment is not self-executing; you must thereafter go for an order further to the judgment to ask that the rights that were declared be enforced in a particular way. Unless and until that happens, the status quo remains and so government is still legally in control of the company and the board of directors headed by Net Vasquez is still very much enshrined. 
I am so confident of that now, even though right at the beginning I had been given different advice. But having seen the authorities, the case law to support this position, I am confident that I can say to anybody, any member of the public who is dealing with Telemedia; you continue to deal with the current board of directors and government will indemnify you against any law suit that may be threatened. The appellants are saying we should be in control and if anybody deals with the current board that is going to be proper and we will sue them. Government is prepared to give a legal indemnity saying we will pay whatever damages, we will finance whatever legal representation you need in case that you are sued, because we are so absolutely certain that our position is rock solid.”
Jose Sanchez
“I believe the Boyce attorneys, Godfrey Smith said that you and Mister Vasquez admitted so much in your Friday interviews that you accepted defeat and now you are changing your mind in just being gracious to leave.”
Dean Barrow
“Well it is true that as I said on the basis of the advice that I had received just as the judgment came down that I did take that position because of my respect for the court, because of my respect for the law, because of my respect for the judgment. The judgment does take immediate effect. It is just that the nature of the judgment being merely one that declares legal rights cannot be executed without this enforcement order. I believe they could go for an enforcement of the judgment even at Supreme Court level, but I’m not sure. I am not practicing law anymore and these things require research. But what is key to note is that without a doubt they would get an enforcement order—there is no question about that—their legal rights have been declared. And they have to be put in a position where they can vindicate those rights. The thing is though that the enforcement, the vindication, does not necessarily have to take the form of restitution of the property—reinstatement of control of the company. The court can well say third party rights have attached, there are various people who bought shares from the government—it would be chaotic if you people went back into the company. So for purposes of good administration, we will allow the government to keep the company and we will compensate you for the fact that the government took it, according to our Court of Appeal judgment—that the government took it unconstitutionally—we will give you redress by way of an award or damages. Remember that these people have to get paid the value of their shares in any case once government keeps the company. A court might well say on top of that, we will give you an award for damages for the fact that your rights were breached because of the unconstitutional taking. So they will get redressed if we aren’t able to pursue an appeal successfully. But in order not to confuse the issue at all, let me just leave it at that. There is no way once that judgment stands that these people won’t be given redress for the fact that their rights were, according to the Court of Appeal, violated.”
But in an ad released today by the government, the prime minister is saying that he will do whatever is legally possible for Telemedia to remain in the possession of the people and Government of Belize. What is legally possible can be interpreted in many ways; we don’t know at this time but suffice it to say that the days ahead will be interesting and trying.
People of Belize, are you sure that we will have an election that will be fair and the country will be turned over to the respected winner?
I have read the back and forth over a company, whereas the supreme court of appeals for the country has made a decision based on the facts presented, and the leader of the country has decided not to comply, although he is saying that he will comply. We are treading on dangerous waters that may be considered as mutiny of the court and dictatorship of a country by its present government.
This started with the issue of the BTL takeover, then detention laws, brought about by the crimes that were being committed, shortly after by the repossession over BEL, and now the country leadership with the assistance of its forces is showing that they are not prepared to return BTL even though the court has declared it un-constitutional.
BELIZE be careful of what is happening, we keeping driving ouselves down a desperate and dangerous path.
The PM is the new CASTRO OF CENTRAL AMERICA he don’t respect the law and for him to be a lawyer it show how smart he is.I think ROBBIE DEATH is much smarter that the pm.because he would have already axcept the ruling n move on the the crime situtation in the country.PM is doing the same thing he did with the MAYA PEOPLE with their land ruling.bye the court. time to get rid of this Pm and make sure you guy don’t get a next lawyer to be Pm .as you can see what they both did.Look at the other two leaders who was not a lawyer and see how the country was run,PLEASE MAKE SURE HE GIVE BACK THE SSB THE POOR PEOPLE MONEY .BUT MY FEELING IS THAT MONEY IS ALREADY GONE,BRING DOWN THE PRESSURE MY PEOPLE.
Barrow continues to talk that the take over is for the Belizean people but only his family and friends got richer, there is still no voip and no lower rates.He needs to keep Boyce out to avoid exposure of the milking of Btl that was done by his family and friends.
There is no difference between Hitler, Jim Jones, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Ladin and Barrow. They all lead people to ruination. Barrow will do anything to implement what he wants. There is no longer democracy in Belize and yes if there are elections it would be wise to have outsiders oversee as he is bound to win once he is in power as he has no scruples! Barrow must go!
Would this situation had turned out this way if the police department was controlled by the judiciary of course not, if I am reading Mr. Barrow correctly he is agreeing with the court where it concerns compensation for the takeover of BTL but he is disagreeing with physically handing over the company in other words GOB will compensate for the lost but will not hand over the company, it’s kind of like your insurance company paying you off when your vehicle is total but they retain title of the vehicle and it becomes their property. I believe that this is going to get real dirty before it gets better. Remember My Legacy B4 My People.
You guys above pretty much covered all my points….. I will say though that the prime minister seems to be contradicting him self a lot lately…. take his stand of defeat and sure turnover when the judgement was given to his stand of wanting to be shamed internationally by having the court send another order for them to turnover the company….. This is a pointless situation we are in at this time becaz….. well, government acquired BTL by force which left us leaving a bad impression on our foreign Investors and in so short a while this action has been overturned which shows that it was an effort for nothing that in the end only hurt us…. simply becaz Investor confidence as far as foreigners are concerned has been broken keeping in light the BEL takeover to add salt to the wound…. Investors are weary of dealing with belize in any circumstance under this administration….. the PM should learn to do things the right way…..
if they cannot pay for the actual price of acquiring BTL, how can they add on to that damages. Barrow is living in wonderland
please, he just need time to adjust the books, erase evidence of corruption.. once that’s done i am sure he will respect the order of the court.. he’s a smar @$$.. i don’t know how so many people still believe in the barrow administration.. and there’s that lousy, finnegan going on the street asking people what they think about the BTL issues.. i still can’t believe.. it’s the poor people that suffer./…
Apparently, with the irrational behavior we are seeing being demonstrated by PM Barrow coupled with his attempt to intellectualized, thus justifying his position, clearly tells me that this individual is suffering from some serious psychological issues/disorder. ie: pseudo mood-congruent psychotic features. Barrow is dangerous for Belize! Imagine the possibilities! What else is new Belize?
our PM impression to the outside world is getting uglier each day. I cannot believe our PM would be acting as an dictator dictators by not abiding to courts judgement. He believes that everything is his and can do anything he wants. No democracy in Belize!!! the results are that more people will get enough and will begin to show their ugly sides as well.
I think Barrow has gone over the top this time around, he should fire his advisors who are leading him down the road of no return. He is now promising shareholders that if they wish to withdraw their investment they may do so and will be getting interest as well, he has promised to pay legal fees for staff members should they be sued as a result of this fiasco, where wil he be getting all this money for these payments, he cannot even pay for B T L? will he be summoning the ever accomodating security board to come to the rescue? It seems to me that Barrow has become totally unhinged, and he is someone who cannot be trusted. He is now taking to the airwaves making pronouncements, which in my oppinion is trying to influence the decisions of the courts in future ruling, this is a serious situation and we Belizeans should take note before it is too late. Imagine the leader of a country disregarding the very laws which he swore to uphold, what next? silencing his opponents and introducing death squads?