Supreme Court Judge Denys Barrow this morning ordered government to turn over to the court details of the controversial $2.5 million exclusive contract it signed with Print Belize Limited.
They have 21 days to provide it to the court or appeal the ruling. It will be disclosed to the court first since Solicitor General Elson Kaseke warned that it is not in the public interest to see the contract. The presiding judge will then decide if it is relevant to the case. We say the presiding judge because more than likely Justice Denys Barrow, who is a temporary judge will have left the bench by that time.
This morning's ruling was the good news for the coalition of print houses who under the banner of the Printer's Association are suing the government for judicial redress over the sale of the Government Printery and the subsequent exclusive annual contract granted to the privately owned Print Belize Limited.
The bad news for that group was that Justice Barrow denied their request to see details of the sale of the Government Printery to Print Belize limited. In their suit, the printers had sought to challenge the sale of the Printery from GOB to Print Belize Limited. But in his response Solicitor General Elson Kaseke pointed out that the Government Printery was sold by DFC, an autonomous statutory body, and not GOB. It is on that fine legal point that Justice Barrow agreed saying that the sale was between DFC and Print Belize and GOB was not directly involved.
Again Justice Barrow did agree with the Printers' Attorney Lois Young-Barrow's request for the contract between Print Belize Limited and GOB to be turned over. It's now left to the Print Association to re-file its application for judicial review against DFC for full disclosure of the transaction.