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Hon. Francis Fonseca, Leader of the Opposition
"This 97 million, let be clear. The original loan was 22.5 million US, which is 45 million Belize dollars. With interest of 16% over 6 years. That has now amounted to 97 million Belize dollars. It gone from 45 million dollars to 97 million Belize dollars, all because of one man's stubborn pettiness. And now the Belizean people must pay 52 million dollars for that stubborn pettiness. We are being asked to approve a settlement and compromise which is still not very clear. We don't know what the full terms and cost of it will be Mr. Speaker. The Prime Minister made mention of some figures earlier in his introduction I believe when he talked about specific share values and he suggested that perhaps we may end up somewhere with a five - eight five share value. If you use even the 5 dollar number, what you are looking at, at the very least is an additional 230 million dollars. That is what this blank cheque is all about and it may very well turned out to be more than that."

"When you look at BTL, the government took away the company and as I said bestowed, anointed is son leader and what have they done? Really literally run the company into the ground. Even with government, remember subsidizing BTL by reducing business taxes from 24.5% to 19%. They did that. Even with the removal of interest payments from the expenses of BTL. The profits have shrunk. I think they've gone down from 30 plus million to last time 17 million."

Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Fort George
"We are being asked to approved not only 162 million dollars, but also for whatever the arbitration on the compensation issue comes up with in addition to this 162 million dollars and according again to the Prime Minister even if the arbitral award were to strike a balance, a middle road, so to speak, of $5 a share instead of the $1.44 a share which he is agreeing to pay under the NERA valuation. That would mean and the people of Belize need to hear and know this, that we are being asked to approved what may turned out to be a 400 million dollars compensation to Michael Ashcroft or to BTL or to whoever are the owners or were the previous owners of BTL - that is actually said "as God is my witness, I will not pay that award." As God is my witness, the UDP government will not pay that award. Well Mr. Speaker, not only was that a blasphemous outburst from the Prime Minister, but it looks like God is no longer his witness. Look like the devil is the witness now, because he is agreeing to pay not only that award, but with interest amounting to 48.5 million US dollars. Not only did the Prime Minister say he was not going to pay the award as God was his witness, but also he criticized me severely for what he called terrible acts of the PUP government when I was prime minister. As if though that would intimidate me from speaking today. Mr. Prime Minister, you cannot intimidate me. I want you to know that and you can accused me of all kinds of things, but you cannot accused me of corruption of benefitting. You cannot, because I did not benefit from any of those matters, unlike what is happening now that you and your family are benefitting from this whole deal."

Hon. Patrick Faber, Collet
"How could that man, the architect of corruption, the man who has lead this country into the dungeons Mr. Speaker, have the audacity to say that nobody can accused him of corruption?"

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Mr. Speaker, I am certain that his initials SM - that the M in those initials SM doesn't stand for Musa, is stands for masochist. Which is a word used to describe somebody who enjoys feeling pain. Who enjoys inflicting punishment of himself on himself, because in speaking in this debate, that is exactly what he did. People can have a clear understanding of the entire picture and how much those on the other side in particular the member for Fort George and the Leader of the Opposition are responsible for in terms of the way they absolutely wreck this country, the way they plumed, the way they pillage, the way they had no regard for the interest of the country, no regard for democracy how they did everything in secret. They as I said are the last ones to talk and none of those two ought ever to have open his mouth in terms of intervening in this BTL settlement deal debate."

With that the debate was finished and the House approved the settlement deal and both pieces of legislation arising from it. It goes to the Senate tomorrow.