On another day, it might have been a headline that the government of Belize took a BTL Loan Guarantee Motion to the House.
Though public ownership of that company is now enshrined in the constitution, it is still a private sector entity - and one whose ownership is before the courts.
But there was not even a peep of protest from the opposition today when the Government guaranteed an eight million US dollar loan from Heritage Bank for Telemedia. The terms are that the guarantee will remain in effect until Telemedia is able to provide alternative security that is acceptable to the bank. The loan guarantee motion went through all three stages today.
Surely, that should have raised some kind of protest from the opposition with the ownership controversies surrounding BTL. But, it may have been a case of where there is no piper paying, there's no tune playing - because after the PM read the loan motion - the Speaker actually had to remind the opposition that it was time for debate of the motion, but no one said a thing! Here's how that went - we pick it up at the last line of the PM's presentation:..
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"This motion has the recommendation of the Cabinet."
Speaker of the House
"All Honorable members of the opposition it will be at this point debate occurs as opposed to after return from the committee."
"Honorable members, that motion is referred to the finance and economic development committee for examination consideration and report."
And so without dissent or debate, the loan guarantee motion went to committee and was approved.
Informed political observers on both sides of the House tell us that they can only conclude from that non-debate that no PUP member will sweat a fever for the Ashcroft Alliance, because right now the PUP seems not to be in the Alliance.
BTL is expected to use the loan to upgrade its cellular system to 4G status.
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