The press also asked both presidents of the Belize Business Bureau and the Belize Hotel Association to comment on a proposed loan from the Social Security Board.
Recently, the SSB published a notice that a company known as Good Stays Hotel Limited has applied for a loan of $200,000. This new loan facility is supposed to be consolidated for a term of 10 years. The problem is that not much is publicly known about Good Stays, we surely couldn't find a site for it on the internet, and didn't see the hotel listed on the website of the Belize Hotel Association.
And - perhaps because of those kinds of flags - there is similar public push-back as in the loan application from Pharmacy Express Limited.
Both presidents shared what information they had on Good Stays:
Arturo Lizarraga - President, Belize Business Bureau
"Good Stays has a 23-room hotel already built."
Alindy Marsol Amaya
"Where?"
Arturo Lizarraga
"Cayo, it already has a hotel that has been built. They went in to get money for a restaurant and a pool. So, the size of the collateral is more significant than the - I think the first was $300,000 - roughly half a million dollars. But, the asset that they have far exceeds the half-a-million dollars."
"For us, I would not attack another business that has gotten or has not gotten - because they haven't gotten it yet. But, what I would say is that what we promote is productive sector growth. If that is a hotel, or if that is somebody setting up a meat processing plant or a food and beverage plant. I want more people to make more things and sell more."
Reporter
"Are you aware if any other member of the Belize Hotel Association has applied for such a loan from SSB?"
Reynaldo Malik - President, Belize Hotel Association
"Off the top of my head, no, I'm not aware of any other member of BHA or any other hotel for that matter or groups that have applied to the SSB. But I think you use the perfect word. It's on application, and my understanding of the process is that the way the process works is that the SSB puts it out in the public domain so that it can be discussed. The case in point is the loan that was applied for in the medical industry and after - I'm not going to say public outcry. But there were presentations from the Ministry of Health itself, which, you know, I don't think that it fits. So, in this case, in terms of Good Stay, I've seen the comments. I've heard people say, why can't they just go to a bank? Listen, when you're in the private sector, you're always looking for the lowest rate that you can find on borrowing money. That's the way a business is. I'm not going to go borrow a commercial loan at 12% when I can get something at 8% or 6%. That's the nature of it. Individually, even on your personal side, if you can get the house mortgage at 6% on the other guy's offering you at 8%, you're going to go at 6%. So, you know, the question of why people are going to the SSB if they're SSB is putting out there, if the DFC puts out there a much lower rate, then that's what's going to attract the attention of potential borrowers. It is up to the SSB. The responsibility there is to determine whether or not that particular applicant is going to be able to repay that loan. Because at the end of the day, again, I hear the cries. It is the public purse."
Alindy Marisol Amaya
"Do you know if they are a member of BHA?"
Reynaldo Malik
"Good Stay, not - from who I know or who I have heard are the principles behind them, one of their businesses is actually a member of the BHP, not on the resort side, but they're actually one of our allied members, and a very good ally, a member in very good standing."
