We know that the Leader of the Opposition's brother Denys Barrow is a part owner of Belize Companies Registry Limited. In fact, his name is in the company file as co-owner of the private registry's parent company, BELIPO. Also, the Solicitor General, Elson Kaseke is a director of BELIPO. But who else is involved? Well, the Leader of the Opposition has stated as a matter of fact that two ministers, one current and the other former, are owners.
Who are those ministers? Well, tonight, the Opposition and the Association of Concerned Belizeans have come forward, almost in chorus - to name names, in releases which came out just hours apart. The UDP release alleges that former Trade Minister Eamon Courtenay and current Foreign Affairs Minister Godfrey Smith are part owners of the Registry.
The ACB release alleges that the same two are principals, and further states that Solicitor General Elson Kaseke is involved in the agreement. The ACB release calls is a, "quintessential conflict of interest situation," because the agreement was implemented in 2002 when Minister Smith was the Attorney General and the Registry Office fell under his portfolio. The ACB is calling on government to go back and recover all stamp duties paid to this company between 2002 and 2005. It also asks government to review other revenue sharing arrangements, such as the one currently enjoyed by Border Management Agency.
For its part, the UDP demands that as a member of Cabinet, Smith immediately resign or be fired. We were unable to reach either Minister Smith or former Minister Courtenay, now the vice-president of Michael Ashcroft's 'BB Holdings' at known contact numbers and they did not return our calls.
As a sidenote to this very major allegation, we should mention that government's take-over of the Registry is not, we understand it, going quite as well as GOB might have liked. While Cabinet thought that the Registry owners would sheepishly withdraw and retire to count their millions, it appears those owners, or at least the administrators, will not go away that easily or cheaply. We are informed that so far, the office staff has resisted the insertion of a government collector in the building. Also, there are other indications that the owners may be inclined to pursue a penalty charge for the abrupt cancellation of the contract.
