With all the high-profile cases landing on the desk of the Supreme Court after the change of administration in 2008, the claim lodged by the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) against the Government of Belize (GOB), challenging the multi-million-dollar deal which privatized the Belize Companies Registry and the Belize Intellectual Property Office (the National Intellectual Property Registry), has been sitting on the back burner—and the hearing is still pending.
The BCCI had filed the claim in 2006, challenging the decision of the government to privatize the two entities, which they claim resulted in the loss of several millions of revenue from the public purse. Under the privatization arrangement, the owners of the company’s registry got 80% of revenues (including duties and other taxes, fees and penalty payments), while Government only received 20%.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dean Barrow, then leader of the Opposition, had said on record that two then ministers of Cabinet, along with former Solicitor General, Elson Kaseke, and Barrow’s brother, Denys Barrow (recently appointed as judge of the Court of Appeal) were the beneficiaries of the privatization deal.
The Chamber had filed suit, not against the privateers, but against the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance (a post then held by Said Musa), the Cabinet of Belize, the Commissioners of Stamps (the respective revenue collectors) and the Attorney General of Belize (then Godfrey Smith).
However, the Musa administration did not pay much attention to the case, and in April 2007, when Supreme Court Justice John Muria called up the case, no government representative or attorney showed up in court. Justice Muria had commented that either the government was not serious or did not care to defend the case.
The following month, we reported that the government had hired Barrow and Co. (the law firm founded by Denys Barrow) to defend its case.
Latest reports to our newspaper are that the case had been adjourned in June 2008, after the Barrow administration took office.
Then Solicitor General, Tanya Herwanger, had requested an adjournment, which was opposed by the Chamber’s attorney, Lois Young. The case was adjourned again in July 2008.
Back in 2005, the Musa administration had said that it would take back the two privatized registries, and “compensate” the former owners in what was described as a “buyback.” However, there was no report detailing the promised compensation.
Amandala checked last week with Financial Secretary, Joe Waight, on this, and he has advised us that, “At the time of the return of the operations and control of the company’s registry and the intellectual property registry to the GOB in October 2005, there was no compensation or any other payments made to the Belize Intellectual Property Office. Neither was the BELIPO required to pay or return to the GOB any monies.”
When the government sold shares in Belize Telemedia Limited (at the time Belize Telecommunications Limited) to Michael Ashcroft’s ECOM and Sunshine Holdings back in 2005, Government had reportedly paid $2.5 million in stamp duties on the sale—80% of which remained with the privatized registry under the revenue sharing arrangement spanning 2002 to 2005.
The Chamber, in the claim (#22 of 2006), is asking the court to order Government to collect the revenues it had surrendered to the former owners of the two registries.