The Prime Minister fled from the media at the Philip Goldson International Airport

LADYVILLE, Belize District, Mon. Nov. 27, 2017–Last Wednesday, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dropped the hammer on the Government of Belize, ordering Government to cough up over $90 million to the Belize Bank to settle the outstanding debt of the Universal Health Services (UHS), now the Belize Healthcare Partners Limited (BHPL).

One day after the judgment, Prime Minister Dean Barrow skipped town. Belize learned the whereabouts of its PM via a press release which stated that he was heading to Houston, Texas, to “attend a private function”, details of which have not been made known.

Today, Barrow was scheduled to return to the country, and Amandala and several media houses camped out in the boiling noonday sun at the Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA), with the hopes of getting a response from the Prime Minister about our latest massive loss in the international courts.

Disappointingly, the great man, instead of facing the press, decided to pull a dodge. The media learned that he exited the aircraft and was quickly whisked away from the tarmac by a waiting vehicle.

The problem is that payment for the $90 million must be taken to the House of Representatives, where it has to be voted upon, and there is no known mechanism to force a member of the House to vote in a particular way. In fact, several UDP Ministers – Dr. Angel Campos, Edmond “Clear the Land” Castro; Pablo Marin, Frank “Pawpa” Mena and Hugo Patt — have already publicly said that when the matter is presented in the National Assembly, they will vote against it.

Barrow needs a majority vote to access the consolidated funds so as to make payments on the loan.

Former Prime Minister, Said Musa, had told Amandala that if Barrow did not adhere to the CCJ’s orders, he would be venturing in “unchartered waters.”

A special sitting of the House of Representatives was scheduled for Friday, but according to a statement released late today, that sitting has been postponed until further notice.

Sources close to the PUP tonight told Amandala that a great number of PUP parliamentarians are inclined to vote against the CCJ payout. However, the party has not yet taken an official stance because they were supposed to meet in caucus on Wednesday, ahead of the initially proposed sitting of the House of Representatives, which was postponed.