Back in January of 2021, which was only a few months into the Briceno Government's term in office, the Prime Minister announced that there would be a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the sale of Government assets between the period of October 2019 to November 2020.
That's after the Public Service Union sounded a very loud alarm about persistent reports from public officers that the outgoing Barrow Administration was disposing of government assets and vehicles at "fire sale" prices.
Well, at different points during last year, the Commission, Chaired by Senior Counsel E. Andrew Marshalleck, held public hearings, which were broadcast online for all Belizeans to see. That's when citizens got to hear the details of the transactions involving government vehicles, including that Toyota Tacoma saga which involved former Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt. You'll remember it as the tale with a number of plot twists, and multiple layers of questionable business dealings.
Well, when we caught up with Chairman Marshalleck today, he told us that he was in the process of delivering a final report to the National Assembly. Here's what he had to say about some of the findings that you'll soon get to see:
Reporter
"We understand that you guys at the commission are in the final process of delivering a report. Tell us what are the few final steps left and when will that document be available for public viewing?"
E. Andrew Marshalleck - Chairman
"The commission met yesterday and we signed off on the report, its finish. I'm scheduled to deliver it this morning at 11 to the cabinet secretary and I intend to do so, I have it ready and after its delivered I expect it to be disseminated to the public."
Reporter
"What is the length of the number of pages of the document?"
E. Andrew Marshalleck - Chairman
"Its not very long, its about 25 pages actual report. What we've done is instead of including a traditional transcript was to include the video recording, a flash drive of the entire thing and what that has done is cut down on the use of paper and save us some trees."
Reporter
"I was going to ask if the findings lined up with what was suspected?"
E. Andrew Marshalleck - Chairman
"Yes, I think so. It's been clear to us from the beginning exactly what transpired. It's a matter of confirming it and setting it out and the commission of inquiry of course is a fact-finding exercise, it's not about convicting anybody, it's about what happened and making recommendations as to how to deal with it and that's what we've done."
