On Thursday evening, November 11, 2004, the CWU-DFC branch had issued a press release, signed by DFC employee/CWU vice president, Emerson Burke, outlining its position: ?We believe that riding the short-term with immediate belt-tightening and an across-the-board restructuring can bring back the DFC to what it was ? a model for other regional institutions.?

The release continued saying, ?We must be able to convince the Government of Belize that getting back to our core functions with strict adherence to lending policies that served us well in the past, is the way to go.?

The press release suggests that belt-tightening should begin with what one worker described as a ?top-heavy? management. The union?s release commented that, ?Management must look within itself for collective, rather than individual leadership. It must carefully examine its expenses and work delivered to the institution.?

Another problem plaguing the institution, we are told, is a number of big loans that comprise a large chunk of DFC?s $300 million portfolio. Last week, the Government announced a decision that Cabinet had taken on Tuesday, November 9, ?to liquidate the Development Finance Corporation.? Government had also said, ?The saleable assets and loan portfolio of DFC will be packaged and put out to tender for sale.?

Later, the Prime Minister informed our newspaper, in writing, that, ?The staff of the DFC will, to the extent possible, be redeployed in the work out of the liquidation process and to other areas of the public sector.?

The DFC workers are saying, however, that liquidation is a ?no-no.?

Since Thursday?s statement to the press, there have been no further statements to the press from the CWU?s DFC branch. Amandala has been informed that the parties have agreed not to make any further public statements on the matter until a resolution has been achieved. The discussions between DFC workers, management, and GOB, we were told, are ongoing.

We understand, however, that the workers are still in a precarious situation, as they have not been given a clear understanding of how DFC?s replacement, which GOB describes as a second-tier bank, would work, and what place the successor institution would have for the DFC?s 110 employees.

In a release to the press on Monday, GOB said, ?The ultimate objective [of disposal of DFC] is to establish a financially sound institution [a second-tier bank] with improved transparency and accountability and with the capacity to effectively continue promoting the growth and development of Belize within this changing global environment.?

We note, however, that the Prime Minister had also told us last week that ??Several non-performing loans and defaults in mortgage payments? had brought the DFC to the point where it had to liquidate.

Last September, the Government had advertised in The Economist magazine, asking for bidders to buy $146 million worth of DFC?s assets. Then, we were told, the DFC would be able to return to its core functions.

A liquidation indicates that GOB is seeking more than a divestment of DFC?s portfolio, but a sale of whatever buyers would purchase from among DFC?s assets, valued, according to GOB, at roughly $600 million.