1 month ago
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Prime Minister John Briceño has issued a public challenge to UDP Senator Patrick Faber to present concrete evidence supporting his allegations of a “hustle” by the Briceño administration in the Fortis deal involving the buy over of the dams. Faber made the claims during yesterday’s UDP press conference, accusing the government of misleading the public on the true cost of the transaction and raising questions over what he described as a $76 million discrepancy between figures presented to the public. Speaking today, Prime Minister Briceño rejected the accusation outright, stating that there was no wrongdoing and that all aspects of the Fortis deal were transparent and properly documented. He clarified that the figures cited by the opposition confuse the direct payout costs with the overall financing framework associated with the transaction, including fees and obligations that were disclosed to Parliament as part of the full settlement process.
John Briceño, Prime Minister: “I could see why Patrick Faber was rejected by the people of Collet. That’s an assinine statement that that $76 million dollars was hustled. And I want to challenge Patrick Faber and the entire UDP to bring me one piece of evidence that such a thing happened. It’s a lie, it’s a blatant lie, it’s a factual lie as some would say, and that certainly did not happen.”
At the press conference, Faber maintained that the House of Representatives and Senate approved payments totaling approximately $256 million for the Fortis settlement and the purchase of BEL shares but argued that the Prime Minister had referenced the transaction as costing $330 million, equating to about 3.9 percent of Belize’s $9 billion GDP. According to Faber, the difference of roughly $76 million was not properly explained and was folded into the transaction, forming the basis of his allegation of financial impropriety.
English (US) ·