| Now, our next three stories would have been headlines on any other day - but on a crazy day like today, they've ended up at the bottom of the news. The first is on a consequential judgment from the Caribbean Court of Justice. It has to do with millions of dollars BTL dividends that have been with-held for the past two years from Government shareholder sin the phone company, namely Social Security, the Central Bank of Belize and the government of Belize. Well today a high powered team of lawyers from the government's side and from the Ashcroft alliance went to the Caribbean Court of Justice headquarters in Port of Spain Trinidad to argue over whether the dividends should be paid to government or continue to be held in escrow.
But it was an anti-climax. The hearing was held in chambers and in very short time, the CCJ varied the Order to allow fifty percent of the dividends declared by BTL for the financial years ended March 2012 and 2013 to be paid to Government. The dividends now to be paid add up to almost 12 million dollars - but today the PM - over-run with money from the Petrocaribe initiative - seemed hardly impressed:
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"I gathered that they said that half of the dividends would be released."
Jules Vasquez
"I thought it was half for two years."
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"My brother spoke to me quickly, you may well be right. I am not sure."
Jules Vasquez
"Five million a year."
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"You see, the government is so much rolling in it right now that I haven't even bothered to keep track of how much we been losing out on the dividends. 5 or 10 million is neither here nor there in the larger picture, but it's a welcoming position taken by the CCJ especially for SSB and for the Central Bank of Belize."
GOB was represented at the CCJ by Counsel Denys Barrow, S.C., Naima Barrow and Iliana Swift. The opponents to the GOB's application, Dean Boyce, was represented by Lord Goldsmith Q.C. and Godfrey Smith, S.C., and British Caribbean Bank Ltd, was represented by Eamon Courtenay S.C. and Jose Alpuche. The Alliance sent out a release today noting that the order restricting BTL form selling any of the assets of the company remains in place.
| 