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And while that will be settled in the courts, much has already been said today in the House as members debated this extraordinary piece of legislation. Here are a few excerpts starting out with the Opposition Leader who acknowledged his family’s interests in a phone company, specifically Speednet or as its known, SMART.

Hon. Johnny Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
“There are certain issues that I think we need to bring up that jumps to my mind, issues of concern as a member of this National Assembly, as a Belizean, as a concern for our country and the whole issue of nationalization, the principle of nationalization because if we were to look at the histories of nationalization, there are very few cases where it has worked.

That when we take on these fights, I think that it can have serious repercussions outside of Belize because certainly I believe that a lot of or there is going to be a number of Belizeans that would be supportive in this issue of requiring or nationalizing BTL. But I don’t think that we’re sufficient enough as a player in the world economy that we can just one day decide that we can go into nationalizing a company. The point is Mr. Speaker that once you start, it would be so easy to continue to do that as using that to be able to solve your problems. So certainly on that principle Mr. Speaker, I have a concern.

As we know already our economy has slowed down considerable, there is little confidence in the private sector as we speak and when we take these issues again I certainly believe it is going to have a negative impact on the investment climate in Belize.”

Hon. Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
“Mr. Speaker this was a agonizing decision. It was not an easy decision because no government wants to get up today or tomorrow or yesterday and interfere with private entities operating in their country. But this government felt that this was the only way to go to bring an end to the chaos that was happening in the telecommunication industry. Mr. Speaker the bill is simply the government will be taking over the Belize Telecommunications Industry, Telemedia. But the Leader of the Opposition just said that we are a small country and we are not a big player in the world of things and that I want to agree with. But it comes a time in life when a man has to claim his dignity and claim his pride and stand up on his foot, and say what I got I got and I will be a man.”

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Freetown Area Representative.
“You said that obviously one of the issues foremost in your mind and in the mind of the government is the issue of putting an end to the endless litigation and we know abut that on this side of the House, we’ve beenengaged in legal battles with Michael Ashcroft since 2001 and some of those battles ended in bad agreements, I would say, bad agreements and today I hope you’re not making that mistake as well. So the question is will this in fact put an end to those legal challenges or will it in fact create a new round of legal challenges, a new series of legal, constitutional and other wise battles. That is a very important question I think the Belizean people have a right to hear about because one of the primary arguments being advanced for the move today is that we’re going to put an end to litigation. But is that in fact so, are we not in fact entering into a new era of litigation.”

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“How come the member for Freetown had no interest in discussing with his constituency or sharing with the people of this country any of the several multiple agreements that his government signed in secret.”

Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“Mr. Speaker the Member from Freetown spoke about what it would cost and where we would we get the money and he even mentioned that the private sector may not be able to handle it. Mr. Speaker we want to be clear about that, we want to be open about that because we are fully cognizant, in fact this was the intention some years when the company was first privatized that we understand fully well that there will be maybe the necessity for foreign companies that have the knowledge, that have the technical know how, that have the financial capital to invest to invest in a company like BTL. We are aware of that and we aren’t saying no to that but one thing you can be assure of is under the UDP government no one entity will control the company in such a way as Michael Ashcroft and Prosser and all of these others were given the opportunity to do by that last administration.”

Hon. John Saldivar, Minister of Public Service
“And I know Mr. Speaker that Mr. Ashcroft is right now screaming bloody murder, now that he knows of our intention and I know that he will do his darnest to smear the good name of the people of Belize with potential foreign investors. But Mr. Speaker I dare say it is a small price to pay to give assurance to our Belizean people that this government, this Cabinet, and our Prime Minister are loyal to only one people and that is the Belizean people.

Then the Leader of the Opposition, I can’t understand his concern about us being a small country and seems to be suggesting to me Mr. Speaker that because we are a small country, we must capitulate to the whim and fancies of these billionaire investors. Mr. Speaker I am happy to know that the Belizean people would never put a wimp like that in charge of this country.”

Hon. Wilfred Sedi Elrington, Attorney General & Minister of Foreign Affairs
“We firmly believe in the right to property and we firmly believe in access to the court so that whatever is done pursuant to this law, there will have to be provisions for adequate compensation to the owners of the property that will ultimately become under the government’s possession and those owners will have the right to go to court, not only to challenge the acquisition but also to challenge the quantum that’s being offered in compensation. So that no harm really is being done, this is a perfectly natural and normal exercise of the democratic process.”

Hon. Dean Barrow,
“You say that the UDP was bankrolled. Yes, I have not denied that because unlike you people, I don’t lie to the people of this country. But remember that I stood in this house from early as the time of the UHS guarantee and made it clear I had worked as a lawyer for Michael Ashcroft, I have received financial contributions for the UDP from Michael Ashcroft but I oppose with every fibre of my being that UHS and I made it clear. It is part of the democratic process that investors would want to contribute to a political party. No such contribution can handcuff me, no such contribution can padlock me, and no such contribution will ever cause me to betray the interests of the people of this country.

Notwithstanding that, that was well before the election, when we came to go into the election Michael Ashcroft contributed again, he can’t claim to not have known where I stood. It was on record, I said it over and over in this House. He never told me when he contributed about the secret agreement but what, could he seriously have expected that after I discovered those agreements, because he had contributed substantially to the party, I would have countenanced and supported those agreements, man he could never have known me. He could not have known me. For years he had been a client of mine. For years, I might even say he might have been a friend of mine, but obviously he did not know this friend. Nothing will ever cause me to shirk my duty to the people of this country.”

And while PM Barrow made it clear that he was not beholden to a campaign donor he described as substantial, he made it clear that opposition leader Briceno is in a different position.