Dr. Carla Barnett has resigned her post as Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and Amandala has been reliably informed from several sources that financial advisor, Joe Waight, who served as Financial Secretary during the first term of the Musa administration, has been offered the job.

Over the past two days the Prime Minister has been engaged in a staged public relations campaign to quell the debate over the Universal Health Services (UHS) guarantee and debt of $33 million. First, his office issued a release from Cabinet on Wednesday, May 9. Then, he issued a prepared statement via voice and print to the media, and third, he released a one-on-one interview with the head of the Government Press Office, with contents virtually identical to his prepared statement

Even while controversy continues to brew over a $33 million private debt that is becoming a public liability, another government financial scandal is rearing its ugly head. The parties in this latest development are not new to us, and in fact, we can say that it is a continuation of what had erupted in August 2004 when we learned that $6 million of your Social Security funds was used to meet the private debts of a string of Glenn Godfrey-related companies.

Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, has finally broken his silence on the latest developments with the guarantee he signed with the Belize Bank for Universal Health Services (UHS). What is most noteworthy about his statement, delivered via the media on Wednesday morning, May 9, is a firm declaration that no matter what, the Government – whichever party is in power – will have to settle the debt, now standing at roughly $33 million

The Society for the Promotion of Education and Research (SPEAR) has released the results of its latest poll – the third poll since 2005 – this time designed to survey public opinion on the much-debated Universal Health Services debt with the Belize Bank.

Yesterday, an American fugitive identified as Randall Allen Smith, 47, of Radford, Illinois, was extradited to the United States on the strength of an arrest warrant.

Supreme Court Justice, John Muria, this morning adjourned the case brought before the Supreme Court by the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) requesting the court to order the Government to collect the revenues it had surrendered to privateers through the privatization of the Belize Companies Registry between 2000 and 2005.

The Office of the Prime Minister issued a statement on Friday, May 4, indicating that there will be no comment for the time being on the Universal Health Services (UHS) debt to the Belize Bank, which Government was called to pay last Wednesday. At press time this evening there has still been no comment on this burning issue from Prime Minister Said Musa – the man at the heart of the controversy. Mr. Musa returned to Belize on Sunday, May 6, after 12 days abroad – in Taiwan on state business and in Florida for his youngest son’s graduation.

A memorial service was scheduled to be held today at 4:00 p.m. at the Old Belize Cultural and Historical Center (Mile 5 Western Highway) for David Courtenay, 45, a businessman of a Buttonwood Bay address who died and was burned to bones after the vehicle he was driving collided with a utility post on the Western Highway. The vehicle caught fire and later exploded, said police. David Courtenay was alone in the vehicle.

Belize City police, besides investigating three separate shootings over this weekend, are also investigating a murder which has taken a son from yet another Yabra mother. They have detained one person for the murder, which occurred on the Southside of the city and are questioning a number of other persons.

Leader of the Opposition, Hon Dean Barrow, called a press conference at the Radisson Fort George Hotel in Belize City this morning, Friday, to declare that the newly disclosed loan agreement the Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, signed with the Belize Bank, was “entered into unilaterally and unlawfully.”

A state funeral with services at St. Ignatius Church was held on Saturday, May 5, for former PUP Minister, Remijio Ignacio “Nacho” Montejo, 56, who died from brain cancer at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital about 10:05 p.m. on Thursday, May 3.

The Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) is in the process of reviewing the initial decision that the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has made on the company’s application for increases in electricity rates and certain reconnection fees and charges for power thieves.

The dispute over the Government’s guarantee for the Universal debt has taken a dramatic turn this week. That is because the Belize Bank has written Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, demanding immediate payment of the $33 million debt Government said it guaranteed for Universal Health Services in December of 2004.