7 News Belize

The 90 Million Dollar UHS Nightmare: Where Did The Taiwanese 20 Mil Go?
posted (December 4, 2017)
The press also asked Briceño where he now stands on the 90 million dollars that the CCJ has ruled that the Government of Belize must pay to the Belize Bank. Nine UDP Parliamentarians have told us that they will vote against it when the Prime Minister brings it to parliament.

But, in the discussion about the events that has led to this massive judgment debt, it is still uncertain what happened to some of the public monies that former Prime Minister Said Musa used to settle that UHS loan.

As viewers will remember, the Musa Administration attempted to divert a 20 million dollar grant that the Venezuelan Government gave to the Government of Belize, to be used for the people of Belize. The Musa Government also diverted another 20-million-dollar grant from the Taiwanese Government. The Barrow Administration managed to get back that 20 million dollars from the Venezuelans, but there is not much mention about the other 20 million from the Taiwanese Government.

So, today, we asked Briceño what he knew about it, and here's what he said:

Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Where is that other 20 million in terms of settling that particular dispute? Did Belize loose that completely as far as you are aware?"

John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"I really couldn't answer you that question. I think the best people to answer you that question is the people at the bank."

Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Since the revelation of the CCJ's ruling, the discourse has been where is the fault? And then you have the 2 leading political pointing fingers at the other. Is it a concern of yours's that those voters, the independent thinkers will be disenchanted by our system of democracy?"

John Briceno, Leader of the Opposition
"We, in our party in the PUP - we have gone through our upheaval over this matter the UHS. Several of us loss of jobs because our opposition to the UHS. You had at that time Minister Espat and Minister Hyde, both of them lost their jobs, because of their stance of the UHS. In effect I resigned. Some say I was fired, but I was - whichever way I left the cabinet, because I believe that it wasn't something that the government should have done and even Minister Courtenay who was the foreign minister - he was fired when he was in Panama representing us over the UHS. So we've had our internal discourse - our internal fight over this matter. The Belizean people have ruled over this matter in 2008, 2012, 2015. But I also like to point out that irrespective of how you feel about the settlement, the then Prime Minister managed to find a settlement, whether you think it was bad or was good or wrong or whatever it is you like it or dislike it. He found a settlement and we managed to deal with that matter."

"Now here come now this prime minister, because as I've been saying - in his arrogance, in his spitefulness, in his badmindidness he decided that he is going to break and that he is going on a pissing contest."

In a press release from last week Tuesday, the Belize Bank discussed both grants that were paid to them by the Musa Administration. Their press release says, quote, "The LCIA - or the London Court of International Arbitration - made it clear that the funds received by the bank from the Taiwanese funds were to be deducted from the amounts due to the [Belize] Bank by the Government [of Belize]."

So, that 20 million from the Taiwanese Government was factored into the calculation of the final arbitration award - which ended up at 36.8 million Belize dollars.

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