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BCCI’s response to PM Barrow’s letter

LettersBCCI’s response to PM Barrow’s letter

December 4, 2017

Rt. Hon. Dean 0. Barrow
Prime Minister of Belize
Belmopan City, Cayo District
BELIZE

Dear Prime Minister,

We note that your letter, dated November 30, 2017, in which you responded to our Wednesday, November 29, press release titled “90 Million for Nothing”, focused almost exclusively on the fact of our holding both the previous and current administrations responsible for the current state of affairs regarding the debt that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has deemed valid and enforceable.

Naturally, we expect that the Government would seek to defend its continued efforts in this matter, and the now-standard tactic of insulting the messenger in order to destroy the message is not unexpected.

However, unleashing such invective upon the BCCI specifically for its unwavering support for the Rule of Law as an essential part of our democracy is disappointing coming both from yourself as one of our nation’s most experienced lawyers, and from one of our past presidents who was once a champion of Rule of Law, good governance and political reform.

We observe with disappointment that your reply and his comments in the media regarding the BCCI make no reference to our call for legal and institutional reforms necessary to prevent or minimize any possibility of recurrence of what we all agree is a “rotten deal” against the Belizean people.

For the sake of convenience, we reiterate the portion of our press release that was evidently overlooked in your response:

The entire UHS saga emphasizes the need for proper and independent oversight to ensure responsible management of Belize’s resources. Clearly, the mere existence of laws intended to protect Belize’s resources and ensure their proper custodianship are insufficient to ensure responsible governance by political leaders. We have no institution that can properly monitor corrupt practices by government officials, and penalties for malfeasance and outright corruption — where they exist — are weak.

Our laws must be strengthened to prevent any Government from riding roughshod over our finances. The Belizean public — who has to pay the debt — must insist on reform of our legal and financial oversight bodies.

These bodies, including the Commissioner of Police, the Contractor General, the Auditor General, the Integrity Commission and the Ombudsman’s Office, should function independently of any partisan or Executive influence, and operate objectively according to the laws of Belize.

This government came to office branding itself as a champion for reforming the system so as to prevent the repeat of any such offensive dealings. Therefore, while you may object to the blame being laid at the feet of your government along with that of the previous, your response could have taken the opportunity to declare that you and your government acknowledge and support the need for such reforms.

What institutionalized protections have been put in place over the last nine years that would effectively protect the Belizean people against so egregious a set of actions as those engaged in by the previous PUP administration on this matter? Are the people of Belize still not left susceptible to a repeat of this hideously expensive chapter of our history?

For instance, we could return all the way back to Claim No. 228 of 2008, and the difficulties encountered therein due to the wording of Clause 9.2 of the odious Settlement Deed that stated: “Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this agreement … shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration under the London Court of International Arbitration”.

Even worse is the immunity-waiving language of Clause 9.5 of said Deed. Were these provisos — which reflect the heinous phrasing of so many of the agreements that have led this country down the path of arbitration awards on this and other matters — not the Achilles Heel that caused Chief Justice Conteh to lift the injunction that your government had sought against the Belize Bank in this case?

What preventions and reforms have been implemented to make it impossible for any Minister to relinquish our rights before the courts of this country so that our own Chief Justice — even “in the face of the unease” he expressed, has to concede jurisdictional authority to foreign bodies?

With regard to your closing question as to whether we would support an increase in taxes upon our membership, we contend, as we always have:

1. That strong and concentrated focus on capturing lost tax revenue from those who evade, in combination with an equally strong and concentrated focus on development of an enabling environment for economic growth, would render the question unnecessary.

2. That even if the above provides sufficient revenue increases, the Government should revisit the cost-saving measures recommended by committee in 2014 in order to update and apply them and thereby also achieve significant savings in recurrent expenditures.

However, as major taxpayers highly motivated to avoid further depredations upon our Treasury in the future, the BCCI also repeats our earlier call — which we have consistently made under both administrations — for you to join with the relevant social partners to immediately address these and other glaring institutional vulnerabilities. We remain ready to engage with all interested parties to work towards these goals.

Yours sincerely,
Nikita Usher (Mr.)
President

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