All roads lead to Belmopan on Friday and public momentum is building for the cause against paying the Universal debt. Last night we told you that five Ministers who met at the Ministry of Transport office in Belize City. We reported that according to our information, four of them: Briceno, Espat, Hyde and Courtenay are opposed to honoring the Universal guarantee or, for that matter any renegotiated settlement.
Well, there's one more Minister; we confirmed that the man under whose auspices the meeting was held, Joe Coye is not with it either. Coye confirmed to 7NEWS that any final settlement has to be to the overall benefit and not the burden of taxpayers, and as he sees it the current arrangement, so skewed against the public interest, is significantly more burdensome than beneficial.
Of course, as we've said it is a fluid situation and the Prime Minister himself, we are informed, has been calling Ministers and backbenchers to see what their position is. All this should come to a head when the party meets at a pre-House meeting caucus on Thursday.
Best information to us at this time says that the renegotiated package that will be put forward by the Prime Minister will include what's called a debt haircut, where the Belize Bank may offer a slight discount and schedule the payments over 20 years.
