But the real business of yesterday's press conference was to respond to an allegation made at Friday's House Sitting by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. He alleged that the mayor of Punta Gorda Town Anthony Fuentes had given the Toledo Teachers Credit Union to take money from the Town's subvention to pay a loan that Fuentes had. So, the allegation that he was using public funds to pay his private loan. Well, it's kind of true, but only insofar as those same public funds pay Fuentes's salary. You, the Toledo Teachers Credit Union gets the twenty two thousand dollar government subvention every month, and Fuentes gets paid out of that. Now, he has a personal loan with the credit union, and they take five hundred a month from his salary - which comes right out of the subvention. It could be seen as a "you say potato, I say potato situation" - but yesterday PUP leader Francis Fonseca says that it was a cheap shot by the PM- and an attempt to imply that there was impropriety when there is none:..
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"A personal loan obtained by Mr. Fuentes even before he became the mayor of Punta Gorda. A salary deduction arrangement with the Toledo Teachers Credit Union. Every single cent of the monies which go to service the mayor of PG personal loan to service Mr. Fuentes' loan comes from his personal salary as the mayor of Punta Gorda."
Anthony Fuentes, Mayor - Punta Gorda Town
"Unequivocally, that I did not use the monies to pay my loan. It's deducted out of my salary and in return, whenever I receive my salary it's less the $500 - that is the truth. I will never ever steal monies from a community, my town and I know that the town needs the money."
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"It is absolutely disgraceful and scandalous for the Prime Minister of this country to get up in the national assembly and deliver a cheap shot at the very close of the meeting - a very cheap shot, against the sitting mayor of Punta Gorda just to score some political points."
Fuentes's council remains in the hands of a government appointed receiver - which the PUP claim is also political posturing. The PG council received a government subvention of twenty two thousand dollars monthly - the least of any council in the country.
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