Last week Friday, we told you how the major Central American Importers of Liquified Petroleum Gas, which we know as butane, were announcing that they were dropping their price in this time of the COVID-19 crisis. Well, those companies, Gas Tomza Limited, Southern Choice Butane, and Belize Western Energy Limited, have now gotten into a legal battle with the Government of Belize.
Information on the dispute is limited at this time but we understand that these companies are taking issue with Statutory Instrument #80 of 2019. We understand that their import licenses for LPG expire at the end of April and that the Government won't renew it. Spokespersons for the companies assert that apart from disrupting their ability to conduct operations, this SI gives the Government the authority to confiscate their inventory of butane. They've pressed the panic button because they say that the SI can be used to violate their rights as corporate citizens.
So, their attorneys filed for an injunction in the courtroom of Justice Michelle Arana today. This injunction seeks to restrain the Government of Belize from refusing to issue the required LPG import licenses to these importers after April 30th, 2020.
We are informed that the hearing took place via teleconference today before the judge, and the attorneys for the claimants presented initial arguments. The judge has given the Government an opportunity to respond, and a decision on whether or not the injunction will be granted will be handed down within the next 3 weeks or so.
We'll keep following the dispute, and we'll tell you about how it is developing.
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