So the matter has gone to British arbitration. An arbitral tribunal was appointed in London on July fourth. Government made only one submission, although the tribunal requested many more. But it seems government's position has been to simply state that there is no dispute because it accepts the debt, and after saying that, GOB has very deliberately buried its head in the sand. And that's why on July 20, the tribunal issued a partial award against the government, finding that there is a dispute, and that the London court does have jurisdiction. Government also has to pay costs. Now how does this tie into what happened today? Well, seems to us, it makes the ACB case all but irrelevant. That's because the British Tribunal is moving ahead without government's input, and if it keeps going, that arbitration will be settled by the time the ACB case goes to trial in October.
ACB attorney Dean Barrow discussed that possibility today.
Hon. Dean Barrow,
"Government seems to be prepared, basically, to allow, to do nothing to frustrate a favorable judgment of the arbitration tribunal for the Belize Bank in the UK. The question is though, even if that happens, as it appears it will, how does the government get from there to actually paying this money, getting the National Assembly of Belize to vote payment of the money. So I think we are going to come right back to square one."
Square one would of course be that government does not have the authority to pay without going to the National Assembly. And what's government's answer to all this? Well the Prime Minister's last stated position is that by September 23rd when the principal payment is due, government will have an investor to take over Universal.
