Musa meets the press, wonders why all the fuss
Prime Minister Said Musa has intimated both privately and publicly that the bulk of his recent political problems are rooted in an overly aggressive and opinionated press corps that is pushing the Opposition’s agenda. Today, after ostensibly whipping a rebellious Cabinet into line and mounting a unilateral media offensive, the P.M. finally met his tormentors face to face. The questions, virtually all of which had been asked rhetorically earlier in the week, were hardly a surprise. Neither were the answers, as Musa essentially stuck to his standard script: that is, he bailed out Universal Health Services because his government was committed to quality affordable health care for the masses. He didn’t tell his Cabinet about the thirty-three million dollar loan guarantee because he assumed their goals were the same as his and his lawyers advised him that neither Cabinet nor legislative approvals were required. As for the debt itself, he re-iterated that government will pay the Belize Bank its money but will actively negotiate a “haircut,” that is a reduction in the amount and a lengthening of the payout. At the same time, it will seek to squeeze the original borrowers to cough up their collateral and make good on any personal guarantees proffered at the time of the debt. Those are the broad strokes, but when it came to the details, Prime Minister Musa was far from convincing.
Prime Minister Said Musa
“They were aware that there was already a guarantee in place by the D.F.C. which is an agency of the government, so I did not consider it necessary to get another approval for a substitute if you like, the government’s guarantee for the D.F.C. guarantee. Secondly, I did so based on legal advice I had received that I had the authority to do so as Minister of Finance and Prime Minister. And thirdly, as far as I was aware at the time and subsequently, it was not unprecedented.”
Stewart Krohn
“You said there were previous instances of guarantees?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Yes, I am aware that instances in the past that in several strategic areas, governments had given guarantees to bailout for instance or to deal with investments like in the rice industry, some thirty million dollars, in the case of the banana industry, in the case of the Belize City Infrastructure Project…”
Stewart Krohn
“Prime Minister sorry, but those are not private, you have yet to cite an instance where the government was guaranteeing a private debt. The infrastructure project wasn’t a private debt.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“The question that was being put to me all along and indeed some of the misrepresentations that were being made was that the Minister of Finance has no authority to sign a guarantee without getting the approval of the National Assembly, and I am disputing that. I am saying there are many precedents.”
Stewart Krohn
“Prime Minister I don’t know what particular allegation you are referring to. I am asking a specific question, if you can cite an instance in which the government has signed a guarantee for a private company, very simple.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Well I’d ask you to investigate for instance how it is that this U.D.P. government got that Housing on Wheels contract implemented if it weren’t done with a government guarantee. You know the famous Elrington tin houses on wheels. That’s one.”
Stewart Krohn
“To my knowledge that was a government programme.”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Yes it was a government programme, but it was a guarantee given to the owners of the houses of you like in order to made it available to the government and the payments were made over a period of time. Secondly, it is a fact again based on my information that the Prime Minister at the time offered a guarantee to Belizeans who wanted to buy shares in B.T.L. way back to guarantee a certain rate of return which I believe was fifteen percent and a guarantee was given to that effect without going to the National Assembly.”
“If the parties felt and believed that this was the final settlement, why is it that the Belize Bank is prepared to sit down and continue negotiations with us? It was a part of the process of the negotiation. In other words, it was part of the process to freeze the so-call claim that the bank was making on the guarantee and simply in that context that that was signed. It was never intended to be the final settlement that this is what you have to pay. Now why did the bank send me that letter? I can only assume that they panicked because of all things that were being said that government will not honour, government should not pay a penny, when quite honestly I feel that whatever the figure we settle on in the end, there is an obligation is there and a responsible government has to honour its obligations. I am not saying that the obligation is thirty-three million. I believe we’ll be able to negotiate a much better figure than that, taking into account the first question that was raised about principal, interest and all this thing, but that is my position.”
“The so-called unlimited guarantee is not really unlimited. On the face of it, it is a standard form guarantee that might appear to be unlimited, open ended but…”
Adele Ramos, Amandala Newspaper
“Can you explain what that means?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“It was based clearly on the premise that at that time the D.F.C. had given a firm commitment for a twenty-eight million dollar financing to the institution. And it was in that context, it was tied to the twenty-eight million that the guarantee was signed with the bank.”
“I was motivated by what was my vision and my party’s vision and my party’s promise to the Belizean people from 1998 as well as 2003 to first of all encourage and promote the expansion of private health facilities in our country because a) we recognized that the government could not do it alone, that there was a need for this collaboration if you like, combination of public/private healthcare in our country in other to provide the best service to our people, in order to stop this “go to Merida” that was existing.”
“And I certainly felt that the U.H.S. had built up a very good reputation in terms of providing that curative tertiary care to the Belizean people. And secondly there was the N.H.I. U.H.S. and Belize Medical Associates went about their investments because of commitments given by our government that we would roll out and expand National Health Insurance scheme. That was at the base of the whole development that took place in healthcare in our country. So I felt, if you like, an obligation to ensure that this thing succeeds and I’m still committed to that.”
Janelle Chanona
“P.M. looking at what this situation has become do you have any regrets now that you have the benefit of hindsight?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“Obviously nobody loves the heat no, certainly not politicians, although we have live with being in the kitchen all the time and so in that sense, yes, there are regrets. My greatest regret is that there is a lot of speculation out there, fed by the media that somehow I did something illegal, that I did something that possibly could benefit me or my party, those are some of the misrepresentations incidentally that Channel Five asked the question about on its news item last night. What are these misrepresentations? Well clearly, people have been saying on the talk shows, in the media, print and otherwise, that I did something illegal, wrongful, fraudulent, and that I had no authority to do so and that somehow this innuendo is being given that Said Musa benefits from this or people in his government and I can categorically state there is no such truth. I acted in good faith in what I considered the best interest of the Belizean people.”
Adele Ramos
“What assurance can you give the Belizean people that there will be no resistance on the part of the U.H.S. shareholders to a government take over even after government steps in and settles the debt?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I don’t think they are in a position to resist.”
Ann Marie Williams, Reporter Newspaper
“I hope you tell them that.”
Adele Ramos
“What assurance can you give us?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I can give you an assurance that if there is any resistance, it will be met full steam ahead by the government. We have every right to take over that institution or indeed to decide what to do with that facility. In other words, we step in the shoes of the bank once we settle with the bank on whatever the obligation will be finally settled. That’s a legal position now when you step into the shoes, you are subrogated, you have all the rights of the bank.”
Adele Ramos
“So when does all this come to a closure?”
Prime Minister Said Musa
“I’m hoping very shortly. I must say that from the beginning it was my intention and it is still my intention that whatever is the final structured solution and I regret, my biggest regret is that it has taken so long. But whatever the solution is we intend to take it to the House for approval and once that approval is given, then we’d move ahead.”
“No, I am not convinced that the majority of the Belizean people are calling on me to call an early election, to call elections now. I am buttressed by that when my own representatives tell me that they have full support and confidence in me. They want me to continue to govern, the people elected us to govern and we should not be distracted. Yes, we need to face all our problems and deal with the solutions and as I mentioned in the budget speech, that is what I’m about, facing problems, fixing them, and moving on.”
Moving on of course is easier said than done. Responding to allegations by Channel 7’s Jules Vasquez, that Musa had also given multimillion dollar guarantees to back Glenn Godfrey’s many misadventures, the P.M. could only reply that he would be challenging those alleged agreements in court. That leaves us with the burning question of what will happen next. The Prime Minister seems confident that when the House meets on May eighteenth, favourable loan terms will have been negotiated and his fellow P.U.P. representatives will have no qualms about supporting them in roll call vote. Assuming that dubious proposition actually happens, it will be left to Dean Barrow to make good on his promise to “take it to the streets.” With less than ten months until elections, it remains to be seen if the public has the energy, focus or leadership to force an early ballot. One key factor will be the behaviour of those Cabinet members who are at least as outraged by the Prime Minister’s behaviour as the Opposition. In short, ministers Briceño, Hyde, Courtenay, and Mark Espat will have to decide whether they want to be part of the problem … or the solution.
