Those in favor of leaving the E.U. say that it would allow the U.K. to better control immigration, thereby reducing pressure on public services, housing and jobs. It would also save billions of pounds in E.U. membership fees and allow the U.K. to make its own trade deals and free the U.K. from E.U. regulations, […]
Following Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s presentation and spin of the Arbitration Award for B.T.L. on Wednesday, the Opposition issued a release entitled the Cost of Barrow’s Arrogance. Government will be coughing up close to half of a billion dollars when all is paid to Dunkeld International and Sunshine Holdings. As you can well imagine, the […]
And while he claims things are going downhill at the utility company, Briceño says it’s going to get much worse since apparently B.T.L. will be made to take on the ninety-seven million dollar BCB Holdings settlement, or at least a significant portion of it. On Wednesday, P.M. Barrow admitted that the liability is for the […]
In our previous newscast, we brought you the basics of the Arbitration Award presented by Government – as a victory and as vindication. To recap – the total award, including share value and interest, was a little over four hundred and fifty million dollars. Subtract the sixty-five million paid by G.O.B. in 2015 when the […]
The assertion by government that payment of at least the first two hundred million due in days will be pretty much a piece of cake is no consolation to P.U.P. Deputy Leader Julius Espat – far from it. Julius Espat, P.U.P. Deputy Leader, West “I was doing some calculations this morning and if the […]
B.T.L. was appropriated in 2009, and the approximately two hundred million dollars in interest alone is the result of there being no settlement of the matter until the arbitration panel’s decision days ago. But was it really necessary for the matter to be dragged out seven years? Could there have been some sort of settlement […]
Briceño disagrees, vehemently, stating that only the previous owners and the Barrows have benefitted from the appropriation of B.T.L. and from the PM dragging the matter out for seven long years. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “I can vividly recall these words that the Prime Minister so eloquently spoke at his press conference of September […]
Back to the issue of the arbitration award for the nationalization of B.T.L….During his presentation on Wednesday, the P.M. claimed victory, particularly because of his own remixed accommodation agreement with Lord Michael Ashcroft last August in Miami in which he was able to come to agreeable terms on the original Accommodation Agreement of the past […]
But is it a cross between an outright lie and a crude attempt to put lipstick on the proverbial muddy pig? P.U.P. Leader John Briceño says the PM is speaking nonsense and misleading Belizeans. John Briceño, P.U.P. Leader “What the Prime Minister is saying is once again completely misleading and untrue. Sixty percent of […]
Does P.U.P. Leader John Briceño have the moral authority to speak about the arbitration award? That was the question put to him by a reporter today at the press conference. So does he? Reporter “SpeedNet – it’s a company your family owns and it’s a company that’s mentioned also in the accommodation agreement. I […]
As we told you Tuesday night, after years of legal battles, the long anticipated figures for the 2009 nationalization of Belize Telemedia Limited are in and they are staggering. According to our quick tally when we looked at the hundred and thirty-nine page judgment from the Permanent Court of Arbitration, we’d thrown out an estimate […]
In case you missed it, Government, for the acquisition of B.T.L., must pay approximately four hundred million to the previous owners of B.T.L., give or take a million or two. That means that by the eighth of July, a two hundred million payment will be due. Within a year, another payment of two hundred million […]
It’s not quite as simple as that. The settlement agreement, agreed to in 2015 between Prime Minister Barrow and Lord Michael Ashcroft, does indeed stipulate that the Accommodation Agreement portion of the award, sixty percent, is to be paid in Belize dollars. But our understanding is that the money will still be under the control […]
To round off his sales pitch, the P.M. then launched into a costs-benefits analysis which he maintains is complete vindication of G.O.B.’s seven years of effort and fighting the good fight. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “Under Costs to G.O.B.: shares, one hundred and twenty-eight million U.S. dollars; interest, U.S. ninety-nine million dollars; arbitration costs […]
Two hundred million in ten days, now actually nine, sounds like a big deal. But it’s not, apparently. In fact, Government says they will have absolutely no difficulty raising the money in the time given. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “Under the arrangement we made, half of the totality of the Award is payable within […]
The Prime Minister appears to be deeply impressed with the four hundred million dollar arbitration award, but the P.U.P. is not. In a release issued late this evening the Party claimed that it is appalled by the final figures released which they say are worse than even they expected. According to the release, “Including the […]
Today was report card day from the Statistical Institute of Belize. S.I.B. held its quarterly press conference this morning to present the most recent figures pertaining to Belize’s economic performance. Arguably the most important piece of information, as it relates to the average Belizean, is the cost of the food basket. Is it higher this […]
Ahead of the prime minister’s press conference this afternoon, Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action, COLA, held its own media brief to discuss the impact of the B.T.L. arbitration award. The question and answer session came on the heels of a release issued by the grassroots organization on Tuesday, in which COLA castigated government for […]
Attorney Kareem Musa, who describes the entire nationalization as a political blunder, maintains that the former owners of B.T.L. should have been compensated at the time the utility company was appropriated in 2009. Prompt compensation, according to Musa, would have avoided the hefty sum prescribed by the arbitration tribunal. Kareem Musa, Attorney for COLA […]
As we told you earlier, the arbitration award is in and no matter how it’s spun, it’s bad news for G.O.B. – about three hundred and fifty million dollars-worth of bad news. That’s surely going to bring some serious scrutiny down on a very recent decision by the S.S.B. to look into buying B.T.L. shares […]
Brackett today sent out a call to the S.S.B. to halt any transaction with G.O.B. where the shares are concerned, at least until there is much more consultation and much more light shone on the pros and cons of the deal. Geovanni Brackett, President, COLA “This administration has had hundreds of millions of dollars […]
The Public Utilities Commission announced via press release today that it has concluded a full tariff review for B.E.L. for the period July 2016 to June 2020. The final decision means that the PUC has approved the regulated values, the mean electricity rate, the tariffs, fees and charges which will be applied in the next […]
Public and private sector accountants from across the Caribbean have converged on Belize for the thirty-fourth annual Caribbean Conference of Accountants. With over three thousand seven hundred members, today, three hundred accounting professionals gathered at the Ramada Belize City Princess for the three-day summit. The event focuses on the challenges facing the Caribbean in tapping […]
To assist with the implementation of best accounting practices in the region, a consulting firm from Washington DC is establishing presence in the Caribbean with an Enterprise Resource Planning software that companies can use to manage their business. Zalena Khan, Co-Founder, Z-Cloud “The easiest way to say this is comparing it to an accounting […]
But what are the challenges that correspondent banking relations have posed to the accounting professionals? According to Conference Chair Shawn Mahler, clients have been affected drastically, and it has forced businesses to reduce their earnings or close down because of corresponding banking issues. I.C.A.C. President Jasmine Davis says that they are looking at different ways […]
