Patten, however, who had been sitting as deputy chairman of the SSB board of directors, refused to step down.

Hubert Enriquez, former president of the Public Service Union (PSU), an affiliate member of the NTUCB, raised a motion asking for Patten?s resignation. The motion was seconded and then carried, after which the 20 or so reps of the NTUCB General Council present at the meeting unanimously agreed to remove Patten as their representative on the board.

Gonzalez, the president of the Christian Workers Union, and Patten, the vice chairman of the Belize Workers Union of Orange Walk, are being faulted for supporting the Sunshine loan without consulting with their NTUCB colleagues, and for going solely on assurances from the Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa, whose public statements often lack veracity [truth], according to an NTUCB declaration earlier this year.

Patten told us that the P.M. assured the SSB directors that the Sunshine company was formed for the benefit of the BTL workers and that they would be represented on the board of Sunshine.

The P.M.?s assurances were no comfort, though, to the rest of the NTUCB?s General Council. By the end of the 3-hour-long meeting last night, the General Council had replaced Patten and Gonzalez with Elena Smith of the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) and Dylan Reneau, the president of the PSU. Smith had served as the NTUCB?s alternate rep on the SSB?s board of directors, and the new alternate is Ray Davis of the PSU.

NTUCB reps tell us that their fury is not simply over the fact that the two voted in favor of the transaction, but that for a second time,they failed to consult with the NTUCB before making such a major decision.

Gonzalez and Patten are also accused of voting in favor of the reappointment of Mrs. Narda Garcia as the SSB?s Chief Executive Officer/General Manager?another decision that sparked a schism within the NTUCB in the face of controversy over the alleged mismanagement of SSB?s funds.

The NTUCB leaders are also angry, we are told, that Patten and Gonzalez changed their prior decision solely on the word of the Prime Minister, Hon. Said Musa. On Thursday, the two had voted against the loan, but after the Prime Minister made an appearance before the board on Friday, September 9, the two changed their vote to approve the loan.

Anthony Fuentes, the president of the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU), who chaired yesterday?s meeting, said that the Prime Minister had promised the unions last September that the SSB, which is under investigation for the use of public funds, would only lend to the productive sector, and the Sunshine loan violates that promise.

Both Patten and Gonzalez had declined to speak to our newspaper on the matter on Wednesday, but promised to grant us an interview after yesterday?s meeting. Today we could not reach Gonzalez, but Patten told us that both of them were concerned that they did not have enough information about Sunshine?s aims and objectives and so did not support the loan at first.

The representatives of the Belize Communication Workers Union (BCWU), whose members are the BTL workers, had also made a presentation to the SSB board on Thursday, when the first vote on the Sunshine loan was taken, and the BCWU had opposed the transaction, saying that the BTL workers had nothing to do with Sunshine?that it is a Michael Ashcroft company.

?Friday we were called to a meeting, in which the Prime Minister was there,? Patten said. ?We expressed our concern ?[about the aims and objectives of Sunshine not being set out]. He assured us that they would be put in place. Based on his word, we agreed. Some people felt we should not have accepted his word, as his promises have, at times, not manifested themselves??

Today, Patten still defends his decision to support the $10 million loan for Sunshine. He said that people are confusing the issues and the Prime Minister has assured them that the company is for the benefit of the BTL workers.

He further told us that he was not of the impression that Mr. Ashcroft would be controlling the company, but that the directorships of Sunshine would be shared among the BTL workers, GOB and the Ashcroft-controlled Belize Bank. Normally in such transactions, the SSB also gets a seat on the board of the company to which it is lending money, Patten added.

Patten said that he had to act on his own instinct, as the Prime Minister created the impression that there was some sense of urgency in approving the loan.

GOB has argued that it needs to sell off its remaining 37.5% shareholding in BTL to repay a loan it had gotten to purchase the BTL shares from the International Bank of Miami. The earliest time the bank can make a call on that loan is November.

?I think we acted in good faith. People might not see it this way, because I think everybody?s mind is based on Ashcroft? I think we have to look at the broader picture, what?s good for all of us as workers,? Patten remarked.

It follows that with Patten?s removal from the SSB board, his presidency is also in trouble. While none of the NTUCB sources we spoke with said that they will call on him to resign as president, indications are that they are expecting Patten to resign gracefully within the coming months.

Patten?s term as president does not expire until 2006. It is believed, however, that at the NTUCB?s AGM, slated for October, the issue of his presidency will come up.

As to whether he would resign his presidency, Patten told us that it is something he had been thinking about since last night, but he refrained from commenting further on the matter.

While this was Patten?s first term on the SSB?s board of directors, it was Gonzalez?s second. Gonzalez sat on the SSB?s board for the period now under investigation by the Senate Special Select Committee. He has also sat on the SSB?s investment committee, which had discussed the Sunshine loan on Wednesday, September 7, two days before the P.M.?s presentation to the board.