Finally tonight we can tell you where the other US$10 million dollars from the Venezuelan grant is. In a secret deal it went to the Belize Bank to pay off part of the Universal debt. And that's where the story ends. But it began this morning when Ralph Fonseca called to set up a meeting for himself and Said Musa with Prime Minister Dean Barrow for the express purpose of explaining what happened to the US$10 million. That meeting was held this afternoon in Belize City and it lasted about 15 minutes. Barrow was accompanied by his CEO Audrey Wallace.
Musa and Fonseca explained that the money was paid to the Belize Bank. Musa has recorded a statement to also make a public explanation. That will air later in this newscast as an ad but here's the essence of it. Musa explained that indeed the first US$10 million went to the Central Bank for disbursement locally. He then filled in the mystery of the other US$10 million.
Said Musa, PUP Leader & Former Prime Minister
"It was later agreed to increase the grant by US$10 million. Based on this agreement, US$10 million only was transferred from the Venezuelan Development Bank, BANDES, to the Central Bank's account for the government of Belize to assist with housing, home improvement, and the sports facility respectively. US$10 million was transferred from BANDES to the Belize Bank which settled GOB debt obligations with the Belize Bank. Our understanding with the Venezuelan government was that only the housing and sports facility grant for US$10 million received by the Central Bank was to be announced until further notice.
We have been waiting for clarification from the Venezuelan government. The transfer of US$10 million to the Belize Bank was to settle a controversial debt obligation. This debt obligation arose out of a government guarantee of a loan made by UHS. It was the subject of litigation in Belize and London that could have resulted in the Belize government having to pay the entire sum due from taxpayers' funds. Through this gift from Venezuela, Belizeans were relieved of this debt burden and the doors to this tertiary care facility remained open. As a result, of clearing this debt, thanks to this gift by Venezuela, the people of Belize own 49% of the UHS assets held in charitable trust, the Belize Health Care Charitable Trust."
Prime Minister Barrow will give his take on that explanation at a press briefing tomorrow before he leaves for a Heads of Government meeting in the Bahamas. But a few of our own notes on this enormous disclosure. First we need to underscore that the transaction with public funds was completely secret. And if the PUP had won, well we might have never known what happened. There is no paperwork on record and no paper trail that anyone has been able to come up with. Second, the query first arose two weeks ago – assuming good faith, it is inexplicable why the former Prime Minister would wait so long to explain what has been a burning question in the public arena.
Third, it is the second time that the Musa administration has paid millions of dollars in public funds – the first was called an amount set off – to get out of an entanglement with an Ashcroft corporate entity. The first was $12 million or depending on who you talk to - $17 million "set off" in taxes for litigation arising from the BTL debacle. Today's story has been late breaking and we'll have much more on it in tomorrow's newscast.
