And while government tries to wrangle out of the BTL fix, another poorly executed utility privatization is coming around to haunt them. Belize Water Services Limited and the Public Utilities Commission were today in Supreme Court. Why? Well the PUC was seeking and got an injunction against the Water Company. The injunction basically stops BWS and its parent company CASCAL from seeking arbitration in England. Apparently, just like Ashcroft's Carlisle Holdings, the owners of BWSL, the Dutch Company CASCAL got a clause in their buyout agreement to if necessary seek arbitration before British courts. CASCAL hopes to go to British courts against the Government of Belize for basically breaching their investment agreement with GOB in which they were, just like Prosser, guaranteed a rate of return from the Water Company.
Both CASCAL in England and BWS in Belize are seeking redress after the Public Utilities Commission granted them a 17% increase in water tariffs last year when they were asking for 32%. The water company maintains that the 17% increase is not enough and CASCAL says that because of this government has breached the investment agreement.
The effect of the injunction now is that both CASCAL and BWS will have to await a judicial review conclusion set for the 25th of February and another matter, action 661 of 2004 where the Attorney General is taking both BWS and CASCAL to court.
