GOB to defend 186 million dollar claim by Ashcroft

The Prime Minister said that the fees that the Alliance is claiming are for legal, accounting and funding costs. A challenge will be filed against the claim within the next two weeks.  

In June of last year, Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow announced that the government of Belize had reached a final settlement for the purchase of BTL. That price stood at 453.5 million dollars. 40 percent of this figure however was as a result of the actual value of BTL and the remaining 60 percent was as a result of the PUP’s Accommodation Agreement. At the time it seemed as if the matter was finally settled and there were arrangements made to pay for BTL which has since started.

A saving grace for the government was that in finalizing the price for BTL, Ashcroft had agreed with the Prime Minister that the 60% portion of the cost of BTL would be placed in a trust from where the government would be able to access finances to fund projects to help the people of Belize. That meant that GOB could access 233 million dollars to implement capital projects for the development of Belize. 

The 186 million dollar claim now will significantly cut into these but the government is prepared to defend the matter in court as the fees are to say the least, exorbitant. It is noteworthy that the claim comes after Ashcroft has been clearly unable to collect on other claims he has made against the government in U.S. courts. It would seem that this is some sort of tactic to collect by other means.