This Tuesday’s regular cabinet meeting will be the first since the Caribbean Court of Justice ordered that the government has to pay a ninety- million dollar loan note for the obsolete Universal Health Services. It is expected it will be a difficult sitting. Prime Minister Dean Barrow returned to the country earlier today from Houston, […]
While the Government is still reeling from the recent C.C.J. decision confirming that they owe Belize Bank over ninety million dollars for a loan note in respect of U.H.S., other major problems may be looming in relation to the Super Bond. That is because under the terms and conditions of the Super Bond, the Government […]
There is more on the U.H.S. issue…Since the Caribbean Court of Justice made the order on November twenty-second for the repayment of a ninety-million dollar loan to the Belize Bank Limited to recoup an investment in the former Universal Health Services Limited, there has been mounting outrage over the high bill. The U.S. Supreme Court […]
Earlier today when Mai gave this interview he said the party’s parliamentary caucus is set to meet on Wednesday to formulate its official position ahead of the House meeting. However, the vote is not as simple as yea or nay. The U.D.P. holds a comfortable majority of seven, meaning that if at least sixteen votes […]
M ai says his own constituents have raised their concerns, particularly about the interest accruing on the debt. He also notes that the long delay has helped U.D.P.-connected attorneys make big money fighting cases in the courts both locally and internationally. There could even be consequences with the recently re-negotiated Superbond. But in the end, […]
The signing of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in December 2016, is nearing its one-year anniversary. Despite the ratification of the document, legislation is yet to be passed in order to bring government into compliance with the accord. On Friday, Public Accounts Committee Chairman Julius Espat weighed in on UNCAC and criticized the present […]
The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet for a final time before year’s end sometime in early December. Until then, the Barrow administration is forced to stare down an elephant in the room. That obvious problem which perhaps no one in government is eager to discuss is the ninety million dollar debt owed to […]
The P.U.P. Cayo South Area Representative is not known for mincing words. So, in true Julius Espat fashion, he says that in the face of all the chatter in the media, come the day of the next house meeting the ‘I’s will have it. Julius Espat, Deputy Party Leader, P.U.P. “In the House of […]
But what Espat will readily agree to is the fact that UHS has since changed hands and has gone on to become an entirely new company with different ownership, all at the expense of the Belizean people. What he argues, on the other hand, is that the prime minister, by being obstinate, has also gambled […]
When asked whether members of the U.D.P. government abstaining from supporting the motion is tantamount to a vote of no confidence, Espat says that they would, for all intents and purposes, be finding themselves in a catch twenty-two. Reporter “If it were to happen that the prime minister brings a motion for this money […]
As we told you on Thursday, P.U.P. Leader John Briceño will go into the national convention unchallenged with a few changes to the National Executive, ratified during yesterday’s meeting at Independence Hall. While the projected date for the convention is January twenty-eighth, it has to be approved by the regional caucuses since it was a […]
And speaking of politics, the People’s United Party is licking its chops at the prospect of a potential United Democratic Party implosion after ten years of dominance at the polls. With Prime Minister Dean Barrow set to retire after three terms and more than three decades in government, the next leader of the U.D.P. is […]
It has been less than two weeks since the People’s United Party introduced its slate of eleven Belize City candidates for the City Council, which the United Democratic Party has held since 2006. The team is already hard at work campaigning on the ground, hoping to convince Belize City voters to go a different route […]
Acting Prime Minister Patrick Faber told reporters on Thursday that he has yet to personally receive a letter sent two weeks ago by Leader of the Opposition John Briceño, which asked to look into the contracts tendered out by Belize Infrastructure Limited, of which he is co-chair. Briceño called for extensive details of who got […]
On Thursday, Leader of the Opposition John Briceño spared no quarter in his condemnation of Immigration Minister, Senator Godwin Hulse. He said he considered it hypocritical of Hulse to attempt to lay blame for the failures of the Immigration Department solely on public officers. But as a new set of allegations dogs the Department, Briceño […]
It appears the Caye Caulker Airstrip project will go ahead with Social Security Board funding, albeit reduced. The Belize Airports Authority is said to be receiving between three-point-five and four million dollars to re-do the runway with hot mix. The original seven-million dollar project, awarded by tendering to Imer Hernandez Development Company Limited, also called […]
There is bipartisan support for an extended investigation of Belize Jungle Experience Limited. The company is already being audited by the Supreme Audit Institution concerning monies paid for the training of German soldiers in Belize’s jungles between 2015 and 2017. For the year 2016, some thirty-six B.D.F. staff members were involved in the training under […]
The People’s United Party held a National Executive meeting at Independence Hall this morning. Among other things, the party rounded off its slate of candidates to be presented at the party’s upcoming National Convention. We are told that the convention may be moved up to January 2018 rather than November twenty-sixth, but it is still […]
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied, without explanation, a review of the Government of Belize’s case against the Belize Bank Limited in a long-standing arbitration settlement dating back to 2004. The Bank had settled with the then-P.U.P. Government to pay close to forty million Belize dollars to satisfy the debt of Universal Health Services, […]
Two weeks ago, Leader of the Opposition John Briceño revealed that the People’s United Party intended to write Prime Minister Dean Barrow asking for all the contracts awarded by Belize Infrastructure Limited, and details on the people that applied for each contract, to see who has been chosen and the reasons why that person has […]
In the same vein, it has been nearly a month since Citizens Organized for Liberty through Action and attorney Kareem Musa requested details of Imer Hernandez’s eight-million dollar contract for the redo of Fabers’ Road Extension. They requested the Ministry of Works to provide the specific contract to Hernandez, the selective tendering process employed by […]
The Government of Guatemala has once again changed the date of the referendum on attending the International Court of Justice to resolve its unfounded claim on Belize. According to Siglo Viente y Uno, the new date was announced by the Electoral Commission earlier this week and is scheduled for April fifteenth as opposed to March […]
The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee’s last two meetings wound up canceled. One was by its chairman Julius Espat because Auditor General Dorothy Bradley was not able to attend. The other happened after three members who are Government ministers caught the flu and viral conjunctivitis within days of each other. At that time the […]
One of the contentions raised by Espat and echoed by the social partners is that Public Accounts Committee meetings should be held in public as the name suggests. But Patrick Faber contends that there are pitfalls to such a plan – namely worries that some will cherry-pick what is said and use it against the […]
This evening, we sought a response from the Committee’s Chair, Julius Espat. For the most part, he said, the meeting was an education in the role and responsibility of the Auditor General’s office and its relationship with the committee, which in Belize’s case is for the most part non-existent. Espat says the entities must work […]
