Senator Singh supports write-offs

Doug Singh

Leader of Government Business, Senator Doug Singh, had another take. He pointed out that a majority of the mortgages being reconciled through the government initiative were granted under the previous administration.  In his opinion, Singh says that failure to service S.S.B. loans or neglect of that responsibility should go unrewarded; however, he acknowledges that that is not GOB’s intention despite lack of proper securities at the time the loans were being processed.

Doug Singh, Senator, Leader of Govt. Business

“You’re talking about a total of eleven loans of the first two hundred or something or so loans that were given during this administration’s term of office and Madame President all the others were given during the previous party‘s term of office, every single one of them.  I am not going to call any names, I am going to stay away from that because I think that is distasteful personally, but I do want to make the point that there has to be proper analysis before one opens mouth and inserts foot. I have my reservation.  I really don’t think that delinquency should be rewarded, philosophically, from a principle standpoint.  That is my position, I am not speaking for the Government of Belize, and I don’t think that that is their intent.  Their intent is to offer relief.  I probably would have done it differently but that is my decision and I will say that openly.  If it disturbs me that there are people who, for the last ten years, who have gotten loans in 2001, 2002 and 2003 that paid little to nothing and some of these names I recognize also.  Some of these people could very well have done so and I think it is unfortunate that an institution perhaps didn’t perfect the security enough to make these things worthwhile and to have done the job that was necessary way at the beginning to enforce the collection at that time to ensure that we didn’t get there because certainly there was security in some cases.”

The accounting firm of Panel Kerr Foster has been contracted to do the external audit of the S.S.B.  The audit started today and interviews start next week.