And from the Government's careful management of the reopening of the land borders, we turn now to Prime Minister John Briceno and his personal - slash - professional legal battle with two prominent members of the Opposition Party: Former Prime Minister Dean Barrow and UDP Chairman Michael Peyrefitte.
As we reported, Peyrefitte and PM Barrow, his attorney, have brought a claim for judicial review to challenge the Briceno Administration's decision to award a 3.37-million-dollar contract for software licensing to the telecoms company, SMART/Speednet Communications.
As we told you, this contract is for the provision of Microsoft 365 software to the Government of Belize, which BTL used to have before the new government made the change. If you ask PM Briceno - and we certainly have on multiple occasions - he had absolutely nothing to do with the decision-making process which has led to Smart, a company connected to his family members, receiving government business from the Finance Ministry, which the PM personally leads.
The Opposition UDP doesn't buy that one bit, and Barrow and Peyrefitte have attempted to convince Justice Sonya Young to strike down that contract, which still has a few more months before it expires.
Our Daniel Ortiz listened in on the majority of the virtual court hearings on this matter, and today, he took a closer look at a few of the important elements of this lawsuit. Here is his story:
At the heart of this controversy is whether or not it is morally, ethically, or legally correct that the Finance Ministry, which Prime Minister John Briceno heads, awarded a lucrative 3.3 million dollar contract to Smart, a company which is partially owned by his family.
Former Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte has gone to the Supreme Court to ask for that contract to be quashed in a claim for judicial review.
As a claimant, Peyrefitte has asked the court to consider that the PM's Brother, Jaime Briceno, is the Chairman and a substantial shareholder in Smart/Speednet. It's an interesting study of whether or not this familial connection represents an actionable conflict of interest.
File: January 21, 2022
Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Former Attorney General/UDP Senator
"We are hoping that the judge will quash this contract and send a clear message that the Government cannot break the law."
The press has already asked the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers about this contract on multiple occasions.
File: January 19, 2022
Hon. John Briceno
"In this case, it was not the political directorate that cut corners. It is the public service and now the public also needs to understand that we need to follow the right procedures that have been set out. So I see it as something positive to ensure that we do not make those mistakes again."
File: February 2, 2022
Hon. Julius Espat - Minister of Infrastructure Development & Housing
"When I'm in the Opposition, I have free rein to say and do what I feel. When I am in government, my role changes and I will stand for the same things, but I just can't express it the way you would like me to do it, because I am held by a collective agreement in the Cabinet. If I go against that then I have to resign and I don't think the people of Cayo South want me to resign at this point."
The topic came up again last Friday when the Prime Minister and his handlers allowed an impromptu, 40-minute interview to take questions from the press, during an already busy House Meeting day.
And once again, the Prime Minister sought to focus on the merits of this contract being awarded.
Hon. John Briceno
"It is the very first time in history that the Government of Belize has decided to put this out to bidding and that the company that gave the lowest bid managed to win that contract."
His toughest critics on the fact that his Government has become a more regular client of Smart include none other than his predecessor, Dean Barrow - who is personally aware of the ins and outs of the elected office Briceno now holds - and former Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte.
File: August 30, 2021
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"I want to be careful. I do not want to attack the Prime Minister personally, but I will say that it does not look good that in fact in government business is being diverted from BTL which is government-owned on behalf of the public."
Prime Minister Briceno has also pointed fingers back at the UDP government on the award of this same contract and other telecoms-related business to the state-owned BTL.
Hon. John Briceno
"BTL being the national company of Belize does not give them the right to be able to have all the business from the government at whatever price. BTL has been creaming the Government. They have been fleecing the Government with those excessive prices that they have. We, as a Government, have a responsibility. BTL is a private company. The government owns the majority, but it is a private company. And as such, they need to be able to compete for services. That is why they've become such a white elephant a few years ago."
On the procedural misstep of failing to submit the contract to the Contractor-General before the GOB entered into it, the Prime Minister insists that the Contractor-General hasn't expressed any alarm about it.
Hon. John. Briceno
"The Contractor-General - after the fact - took a look at everything that took place, and he has given a stamp of approval, saying that everything done was open and transparent. I had no knowledge of it, and that was said by everyone. You know they're just holding - because I am the minister of Finance, and that's fine. But, the facts are that this was an open and transparent bidding process. The fact is that Speednet gave the cheapest rate. The fact is that this government is saving the Belizean people money."
But, the Former Prime Minister and the Former Attorney General have insisted to the Supreme Court that there aren't enough degrees of separation between him and the decision-making process, which saw Speednet being awarded this contract from his Ministry.
File: August 30, 2021
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"[It] does not look good for the government that he heads to be diverting business from BTL and is in fact, taking the business to a company that's owned, or partially owned by his family. I find that that is disturbing. It doesn't pass the smell test."
Among other things, the claimants have pointed to a now-public acknowledgment from PM Briceno that his brother, Jaime, an important figure in Smart/Speednet, has been a major financier of the PUP, during their 13 long years out of government.
File: January 24, 2022
Jules Vasquez
"You had access to capital because you were successful with your family businesses, you were able to finance the staying alive of the opposition right? Isn't that a problem you think for the UDP right now practically?"
Hon. John Briceno
"Fortunately, I have an immense debt to my brother, to Jaime who pretty much was financing us the party."
Jules Vasquez
"Hundreds of thousands of dollars, we reported on that."
Hon. John Briceno
"It's more than that."
Justice Sonya Young has reserved judgment in this judicial review claim for next week Friday. She will first decide if Peyrefitte has the standing to be granted permission to bring the lawsuit. If she decides that he doesn't, then the case ends there. If she grants him permission to bring the lawsuit, she will then take a very close look at all the litigants' arguments.
We'll be there to tell you what her decision is.
