Unfazed by a stern and threatening letter from the Belize Bank, the Association of Concerned Belizeans (ACB), the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB), the Medical and Dental Officers Union of Belize, and businessman and Senator Godwin Hulse, have joined forces in an attempt to stop the Government from paying the bank $33 million to settle a debt it had guaranteed for Universal Health Services (UHS).
They have all filed a joint claim against the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Hon. Said Musa, and Attorney General, Hon. Francis Fonseca, whose signatures appear on the guarantee, dated December 9, 2004.
The claimants say that the guarantee was unlawful, because neither Cabinet nor the National Assembly approved it, and therefore the Government should not pay it.
Roughly two hours before attorney Lois Young filed the claim in the Supreme Court on behalf of the four applicants, the Belize Bank sent the ACB, the organization that is leading the suit, a letter obviously intending to get them to back down.
The bank accuses the ACB of trying “…to interfere with, undermine or somehow void certain existing contractual arrangements between the Government and the Belize Bank…” and furthermore tells the association that they are meddling in something that is none of their business.
“You are hereby put on notice that in the event that you do decide to commence legal proceedings or otherwise take action involving this arrangement, the Bank will to the extent that it is prejudiced by those proceedings or action, pursue the ACB and its individual members directly for all consequential loss which it suffers,” said the letter, signed by the bank’s chairman, Philip Johnson.
David Vasquez, the ACB’s president, to whom Johnson’s letter was addressed, told Amandala Wednesday evening that the ACB does not feel threatened by the Belize Bank letter, and none of their members are taking it seriously.
It is out of line for the Belize Bank to say the settlement of the guarantee is none of their business, and this shows a blatant disregard for the people and citizens of Belize, Vasquez added.
At around 4:00 Wednesday evening, the ACB filed its claim with the Supreme Court, requesting an injunction to restrain the Prime Minister and the Attorney General from paying the guarantee without first getting permission from the National Assembly.
They are also seeking three declarations: (1) that the guarantee is unlawful and contrary to the Belize Constitution; (2) that the decision of the Prime Minister to satisfy the guarantee is unlawful, (3) and that the relevant parts of the Constitution and the Finance and Audit Act must be complied with for Government to proceed to settle the debt.
Vasquez had sent a pre-action letter to the Prime Minister, dated March 29, 2007, calling on the Government to rescind the decision made in December to settle the debt, since it has no authorization from the National Assembly to do so.
In his affidavit Vasquez tells the court that there was no Cabinet decision to enter into the guarantee; that the guarantee furthermore required the approval of the National Assembly, since no money can be paid out of the public purse without this authority.
He also questions in his affidavit why the UHS collateral held by the bank has not been touched even as taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill, and why the government feels so obliged to settle the debt.
Other supporting affidavits were filed by Dylan Reneau, General Secretary of the NTUCB, representing 9 member unions; Martha Habet, vice president of the Medical and Dental Officers Union, representing 68 members; and Hulse, acting in his individual capacity.
Reneau said in his affidavit that since January 2007, the union has taken issue with the payment of the guarantee.
“The issue now is the lawfulness of this document and the lawfulness of satisfying this guarantee using public monies,” Reneau deposes.
“The public healthcare system needs equipment, supplies and upgrading. We consider the decision of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance to pay $33 million or indeed any amount of money, to the Belize Bank for the debt of a failed private hospital, as denying the potential government investment into the public healthcare system in Belize in which we work. As such we are directly affected by Government’s intentions,” Habet declares in her affidavit.
For his part, Senator Hulse said that at no time did the Government guarantee come before the Senate, and it was never disclosed in the budgets of the subsequent years (2005/2006-2007/2008).
“As a businessman and citizen of Belize, I pay several taxes to the Government of Belize. When the Government needs to, it increases these taxes, and/or raises other taxes. The taxes that I pay go into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and as a taxpayer, I am directly affected when unbudgeted sums of money are taken out of the fund,” Hulse argues. “As a citizen and taxpayer, I am directly interested that the Constitution and Laws of Belize should be obeyed in all respects, and in particular where public monies are concerned.”
Vasquez said that even though the Belize Bank’s mentality is that the ACB should not interfere in what they claim to be their business, there are others who believe in the cause, and who have joined in.
It is clear, however, that the bank will be fighting back to protect its financial interest.
“You should also be aware that the Bank will vigorously oppose to the fullest extent possible and through all appropriate legal channels any attempt by your organization and its members to interfere with this contractual arrangement,” Johnson states in the letter to the ACB.
He goes on to advise the ACB to inform its members, insurers, sponsors and lenders of their stance, so that they may also be put on notice of the associated risk exposure.
Johnson goes on to characterize the ACB as “an ad hoc group of individuals hiding behind the guise of some flimsy and superficial organization with obvious overriding political motivations…”
Today the Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) issued a statement expressing solidarity with the ACB and outrightly condemning the Belize Bank’s letter.
“That letter is a crude, crass attempt to intimidate the ACB into backing away from the high civic mission it has undertaken in challenging the Government of Belize UHS guarantee,” it asserted.
The UDP said that the language and tone of the letter are “highly disrespectful of the ACB, and utterly unacceptable to right-thinking Belizeans.”
Following suggestions from callers on the KREM WUB morning show today, the ACB has decided that it will be taking signatures starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, around San Cas Plaza, for members of the public who want to sign on to a petition opposing the guarantee and the payment of the debt. The petition will be used to bolster its case before to the court.