And while government says it won't sell its 10%, it is still liable for $33 million and now it's opening the books to show that there is a government guarantee for Universal's debt to the Belize Bank.
Government information czar Nuri Mohammed called 7NEWS today to say that Cabinet has decided to allow interested members of the National Assembly to view the Universal guarantee. All Senators and Area Representatives are considered members of the National Assembly.
Opposition Leader Dean Barrow confirmed to us that this afternoon the Cabinet Secretary told him that he can see the document and take notes at the office of government's legal counsel Gian Ghandi.
So why allow 41 National Assembly members to see the document and not everyone else? Well Mohammed didn't himself seem to be quite clear on that one.
The disclosure of the guarantee become an issue after the Association of Concerned Belizeans applied to have it released under the Freedom of Information Act. The activist group was first told by the Financial Secretary that she didn't know of any such document, and then told by the Ombudsman that he had seen it, but that it is a privileged document, meaning one that must be kept confidential.
