This week, the Government of Belize announced, via press release, that it had received a cheque for $36,500 from the people who have been exploring Spanish Lookout for oil. Seems that oil has been flowing at a rate of 500 barrels per day, according to GOB. The release goes on to say that the company, Belize Natural Energy, has sold $200,000 worth of oil locally, and GOB got a cut of about 18%, which is royalties and taxes combined.

The portion that GOB collects in the deal is stipulated in a ?revenue sharing agreement.? Like other such deals, this one is so far a secret from Belizeans. We have no clue what GOB has consented to give BNE, a company run by foreign investors, as a part of the deal.

If recent history is anything to go by, then some serious questions must be asked about this revenue sharing agreement with BNE.

The issue over the privatization of the Belize Companies Registry, under which there was a similar split?amounting to an 80-20 deal in favor of the private investors?has been the source of much controversy. GOB cancelled the contract in haste (and embarrassment) after it became the subject of fiery public scandal.

The minister who signed the contract said that he had simply patterned it off others that were already in existence. In fact, he went on to say that there were two other such agreements. To our knowledge, none of those have been terminated and we have only to conclude that it is simply because?since the public is now in the dark as to the details of the other agreements?there is no public pressure to kill those deals.

So we are, understandably, very wary of the secret agreement that the Government of Belize has made with BNE. We are wary for the simple fact that this administration is widely perceived as being corrupt when it comes to public contracting. Such deals are almost always skewed heavily in the favor of the investors, leaving the public?s benefit to a minimum.

It could be a good thing that BNE has announced plans to set up a trust fund for Belizeans, which would be targeting special community programs. But then again, the last move to set up a trust fund for Belizeans has not really benefited its supposed beneficiaries. We speak of the case of Sunshine Holdings, a purported trust company that is an affiliate of Lord Michael Ashcroft?s Carlisle Holdings. Whereas the so-called trust was touted as a mechanism for workers of the Belize Telecommunications Limited to gain part ownership of BTL, the workers rejected the formation of the trust, because they argued that they would derive no true benefit. Instead, the benefits would all fall in Ashcroft?s lap, they argued.

So Belizeans are once bitten, twice shy. ?Wary? is the word; very wary. This government has left a track record of deal after deal that has the stench of corruption emanating from its core. We are not convinced that they have turned over a new leaf, though imminent municipal elections may motivate them to act as if they are immaculate creatures.

Today, there is the question of who really will benefit from the discovery of oil in Belize. There is yet no announcement as to whether the oil does exist in commercial quantities, enough to set up production in Belize.

Then, there are rumors of oil being smuggled out from the site and taken across the border. Those living in and around the site need to be especially vigilant and report any suspicious action to the relevant entities.

What Belizeans have learned from experience is that we must watch both the oil and the money. We are now over $2 billion in debt and have very little to show for it. If oil wealth brings millions, or even billions, to Belize, who is to say that the wealth will not vanish just the same.

Today, one in three Belizeans is poor. Today, Belizeans pay far more taxes than they did only three years ago. Today, Belizeans have fewer stakes in the major enterprises in Belize than only two years ago. Today, Belizeans have less faith in this administration than only a year ago. Today, we are more wary of GOB contracts than we were only a half-year ago. Today, we are more skeptical about any promise for betterment because of new at-home ventures than a month ago.

Repeated tax hikes, the BTL fiasco, the Social Security, Intelco and Companies Registry scandals, and the possible new rate hikes coming on the heels of Chalillo, have bred this new level of skepticism.

Oil could be great news for all Belizeans if transparency and good governance were the pillars upon which Independence Hill (Government?s seat in Belmopan) stands. That these moral values don?t form the bedrock of our Government is the reason why we think Belizeans need to keep their eyes on the oil and the money.

You don?t leave a hungry Charlie Price with your expensive Dutch cheese if you want to ?drink tea? with it?the cheese we mean! Straight like that.