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Hulse dealt with the transcript of Musa's attack:..

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"I begged your indulgence because the object of that was to discredit the messenger so the message could be discredited. As the good Rt. Honorable gentleman said, but we are not surprise quoting his exactly "because this minister is also a member of BSI board and therefore this minister wanted to carry a briefcase for American Refining and BSI." Mr. President if I wanted to carry a brief I would have come to this honorable house - having suggested that this is the best we can do and having made some private deal. This Senator and Minister would never betray the people of Belize that way."

"Mr. President the honorable gentleman said "I was shock listening last night and watching television on channel 7 to see this minister of government, well I saw his picture as shown on television and he was uttering words to the effect that all the cane farmers need to do is to get on with their business, cut their cane and stop the foolishness" - words to that effect. The honorable gentleman is also a senior officer of the court and he knows that you do not cast second or third hand aspirations - but you are precise in your delivery and so I will be precise in my delivery because you simply had to go on the web and download the transcript from channel 7 and this is what I said: "What the cane farmers need to do now is grow more cane" that Mr. president is because there is no certainty in the industry - certainty. It no longer if, should we grow, should we invest, if BSI close down and all the anxiety that prevail before. There was no certainty and so I said we need to grow more cane, sell more cane - that is doing business to the factory and get on with it."

"Far cry, that was a statement of confidence I know that has now been injected in the cane farming community in the north, far cry from uttering words to the effect that all the cane farmers need to do is get on with their business and cut their cane and stop the foolishness. Those are easy to check Mr. President - simply look at the transcript. The idea was to support and that is why I said they can now get on with their business of growing cane with confidence and send it to the factory. That is the business they are engage in, it was never and I could never see how it could be condescending."

"Mr. President he said: "he wanted to carry a brief for American Refining, but we are not surprise because the minister is also a member of BSI board." Yes Mr. President, the whole world knows that - I've been a member for 15 years through thick, through thin, through up and downs. But Mr. President as he said: "I am not surprise because I am told the minister is collecting $2,000 for every time he attends a meeting at BSI board." Nicely put and craftily put - no shame, the income tax department knows we file that figure. It amounts to $8,000 and it amounts to $30 a day and Mr. president this senator, this board member does not only go to four board meetings a year as the entire staff and everybody of BSI can attest I am always involve in their details, many phone calls, many trips etc. and I dare to ask any accountant, any attorney and attorney of the caliber of the representative if he would do this kind of work for $30 a day. You what legal fees are like? What he should have said is that I will say the learned gentleman is a fool for not collecting his proper sum - that is what he should have said."

"Mr. president, he went on to say and this is the one that really needs put right: "this minister of government today also has a contract I am told with BSI for the sale of sugar" - this Mr. president I've heard that long before I was a minister of government - public knowledge, but cunning crafty statement to say yes, well, let it be denied if it is not so. He is selling sugar across the border on behalf of BSI, because he knew he could not make that statement outside the confines of this chamber where there us immunity to what you say. It leave the impression to the public somehow that he is smuggling or camouflage - If I had been doing that I would ask them how come customs and the other authorities haven't confiscated - that shop sells to anybody who lines up there, any amount including my Senator colleague behind me and I dare say it's not the responsibility of my children to follow sugar all the way to somebody's teacup. If some finds its way across the border - that's what custom and them do."

And after that bracing, the debate on the bill proceeded in earnest, with representation from all sides. Here are a few excerpts:

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"The project entities shall be exempt from all taxes, duties, imports, levies or income and profits for a period of 15 years from the date of the commencement of the project. Lord Mr. President, anybody who can read and understand the English language knows what that mean. Let me tell you what the project entities are again in case you forget. Project entities means collectively: BELCOGEN, BSI and the engineering contractors. How can anybody that I was deceptive because this apply only to BELCOGEN and not to BSI."

"Will you write this law and pass it in this honorable house and BSI has been operating under it all this period of time - get real."

Senator Collet Montejo
"It is still unclear to me and I guess to many of our Belizeans what hat my learned colleague was wearing when this deal was struck - it's like BSI or government - it's still fairly unclear. Yes we understand that the industry needs to be bailout and nobody is against that. You'd be retarted to go against bailing out the industry but it is also important and the farmers are saying create a level playing field - that's all we say. That's all they are saying - create a level playing field, give us some of these opportunities that's been given to ASI for us to continue to move forward."

"As far as we are seeing it's like we are moving back the whole nationalist view that I've heard the Prime Minister so rant so many times about being a nationalist - it's like we are moving back to re-colonization and we've got to be careful."

Senator Mark Lizarraga
"The business community in principle supports the attraction of foreign direct investment, especially investment that will provide long term sustainable returns for the investor and Belize."

"What concerns us is that the Belize Sugarcane Farmers Association is not fully support of this bill. The business community hopes that government and ASR can prove and can prove in due course that this act will in fact increase quality, production and international competiveness of this vital industry."

Hon. Godwin Hulse
"How much more do you want the playing field to be? Bare in mind that BSI only grew cane because the farmers could not produce the sufficient cane to make the whole industry viable. What would we have preferred - that the banks pull the plug and then government have to find some guarantee to sell it to cane farmers and all the rest of things involve, then they find out later on that we have more mess. What re-colonization process are we really talking about, come on."

At the end of the debate a division was taken - which requires all Senators to declare their vote. It passed 9 in favour - meaning the government, church, labor and business senators, and two opposition senators against. One opposition Senator, Lisa Shoman was absent.