The price quoted on the Internet is US$800 a night, Channel 7 News director, Jules Vasquez, told the Prime Minister.

?Fine!? responded the Prime Minister. ?I am saying that the taxpayers didn?t pay for it, and we are not beholden to any special interests.?

At the retreat Cabinet sat through ?motivational? sessions with Dr. Tony Quinn, a guru with a questionable reputation who commands top dollar for his seminars and products, and has claimed expertise in areas like psychotherapy and yoga, weight training, and health and nutrition.

?What I can tell you is that Mr. Tony Quinn offered his services for free,? Musa also claimed.

When questioned whether it was Belize Natural Energy (BNE), who are Quinn?s promoters in Belize, which picked up the hotel tab and paid Quinn, Musa did not say ?yes? or ?no,? but replied: ?I can?t say that.?

The Prime Minister said that even though the media has been saying all sorts of ?mocking things? about the Cabinet retreat, it was a great success.

?It served to bring us together and have the Government focus on the real issues,? he said.

Cabinet had said when the retreat was first announced, that it would ??carry out a critical analysis and review of the work of the Government, with particular reference to the [PUP ? ruling party] Manifesto: Keep Belize Free 2003 ? 2008.? It also said that ministers would ??consider and decide the parameters and targets for the preparation of the budget for fiscal year 2007 ? 2008? and discuss ?Belize?s first long-term Strategic Development Framework: Vision 2025.?

[Ed. NOTE: Why all the secrecy? We don?t know, but it seems to us at this newspaper queer and sinister that the Government would retreat to Caye Chapel to discuss what it claims is Government and national business all the way to 2025, and not tell us who the heck is paying the bill for such a glamorous getaway.]