7 News Belize

NEWCO 6 M USD Settlement Debated In Senate
posted (October 3, 2018)
On Friday the matter of the NEWCO 6 million US dollar settlement went to the house of representatives Today it went to the Senate where the debate was lively, if not energetic:..

Hon. Anthony Mahler- PUP Senator
"Anytime the Belizean people have to pay more than we should pay, I have a problem with that. Like the BTL issue, like the UHS issue, this issue has been litigated all over the place and the only thing that has happened is that the Belizean people end up paying more than we should be paying. I have a serious problem with that Mr. President."

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte- UPD Senator
"He doesn't like when these people pay too much, if it weren't for the PUP we wouldn't be paying at all. At all! This is as a result of a corrupt PUP move that we had to go to court that we had to settle this debt. That is why we are here. We didn't want this, we inherited this from 2003, sir, look at the bill; 2003 this occurred."

Hon. OJ Elrington- UDP Senator
"This settlement has become necessary because, once again, because of a corrupt, vile, putrid, deal during the PUP administration."

Hon. Eamon Courtney- PUP Senator
"There was absolutely nothing that was corrupt about what took place and I want to say to you Mr. President, let us not get in to who are the shareholders of the current company. What did the arbitrators award? The arbitrators awarded $2.6 million. What is the $2.6 million? Ten years later we are here approving the payment of $6 million- $6 million US. Hence, Senator Mahler's question and Senator Mahler's point; why did we not negotiate a settlement in 2008 on the $4 million and try to reduce that? Instead of allowing interest to accrue for ten years and then negotiate a reduction and to pay more than the award stipulated."

We'll have a little more form the Senate later on in the news.

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