BZ$40 MILLION OF MEMBERS’ MONEY: BELIZE, THIS IS A QUESTION WE CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE

By Cyril Uruwei | UBAFU Media & Marketing

There are numbers we hear so often in Belize that we risk becoming numb to them.

A million here. Ten million there. Forty million somewhere else.

But BZ$40 million is not just a number.

And if the questions now being raised about a reported BZ$40 million loan from Holy Redeemer Credit Union (HRCU) to Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) are accurate, ordinary Belizeans—especially HRCU members—have every reason to start asking questions.

Serious questions.

Leader of the Opposition Hon. Tracy Taegar Panton has publicly called attention to what she says is disclosed in BEL’s audited financial statements: a BZ$40 million unsecured loan from Holy Redeemer Credit Union, reportedly carrying an effective interest rate of 5% per annum and repayable over 60 months.

Her question is simple:

“WHO IS PROTECTING THE MEMBERS OF HOLY REDEEMER CREDIT UNION?”

That question deserves an answer.

Not because Tracy Panton is UDP.

Not because the Government is PUP.

But because credit-union money belongs to members.

THIS IS PEOPLE’S MONEY

Think about what a credit union represents in Belize.

It represents the teacher putting away a little from every salary.

The public officer trying to build a home.

The market vendor saving for tomorrow.

The small-business owner protecting what took years to earn.

The pensioner guarding a lifetime of sacrifice.

The mother saving for her children.

These institutions were built on a simple principle: ordinary people pooling their resources so ordinary people can build better lives.

That is why any transaction of this magnitude deserves scrutiny.

If BZ$40 million was loaned to BEL, Belizeans are entitled to understand the terms under which that decision was made.

And if the loan was indeed unsecured, as Panton alleges based on BEL’s audited statements, the public deserves to understand why.

ASK THE QUESTIONS

Who negotiated the loan?

Who approved it?

What risk assessment was conducted?

What policies governed the decision?

Were all regulatory requirements and lending limits satisfied?

What protections exist for HRCU members?

Why was security reportedly not required?

How was the 5% effective interest rate determined?

Were there comparable financing options available?

Was anyone connected to the transaction placed in a potential conflict of interest?

And perhaps most importantly:

Was this deal in the best interest of HRCU’s members?

These are not accusations of wrongdoing.

They are questions of governance.

And there is a dangerous habit developing in Belize where simply asking hard questions is treated as political warfare.

No.

Democracy requires questions.

Good governance survives questions.

Transparent institutions should welcome questions.

DON’T LET PARTY COLOURS BLIND YOU

This is where I challenge Belizeans.

If your first reaction to this story is:

“But Tracy is UDP…”

you have already missed the point.

And if tomorrow a PUP representative exposes something questionable involving a UDP administration, the same principle must apply.

Country before party.

Because politicians change.

Governments change.

Red changes to blue. Blue changes to red.

But the working-class Belizean keeps paying.

We cannot demand accountability only when the other party occupies Belmopan.

That is not accountability.

That is political convenience.

HRCU MEMBERS SHOULD BE ASKING QUESTIONS

If you are a member of Holy Redeemer Credit Union, you should want clarity.

Not rumours.

Not Facebook speculation.

Not political spin.

Documents.

Members should be able to understand the approval process, applicable lending policies, risk analysis, repayment arrangements, safeguards and regulatory compliance surrounding a transaction of this size.

If everything was properly evaluated, authorized and conducted in the best interest of the membership, disclosure can help establish that.

If something was not, then that needs to be established too.

Transparency protects institutions just as much as it protects citizens.

BZ$40 MILLION SHOULD NEVER PASS QUIETLY

Belize, we have to stop treating millions of dollars like Monopoly money.

Say the number slowly:

FORTY. MILLION. DOLLARS.

For perspective, someone earning Belize’s $5-per-hour minimum wage would have to work 8 million hours to earn BZ$40 million before deductions.

That is why ordinary people must stop believing that financial governance is some complicated subject reserved for accountants, politicians and boardrooms.

It is your business.

Because eventually poor decisions made inside boardrooms arrive at the doors of ordinary people.

Through higher prices.

Higher taxes.

Reduced services.

Lost opportunities.

Or institutions carrying risks that citizens never knew existed.

TRANSPARENCY SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE DRAGGED OUT OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

BEL is a company in which the Government of Belize has a controlling interest.

That alone makes transparency surrounding a transaction of this magnitude a legitimate matter of public interest.

And HRCU has another constituency deserving answers:

its members.

Panton has called for disclosure of the loan agreement, approval records, repayment terms, security arrangements, risk assessments and any considerations involving preferential treatment or related parties.

That is a reasonable starting point.

But accountability should not stop with politicians making statements.

The relevant institutions and regulators should address these questions directly and clearly.

If the transaction was sound, show Belize why it was sound.

If the terms were commercially reasonable, explain them.

If adequate safeguards protected members’ money, identify those safeguards.

And if there were failures in governance, compliance or fiduciary responsibility, then those failures must be confronted.

BELIZE, STAY AWAKE

There is something more dangerous than corruption.

It is a population becoming so accustomed to allegations, unanswered questions and controversy that eventually nothing shocks us anymore.

That is how accountability dies.

Not always with some dramatic act.

Sometimes it dies quietly.

One unanswered question at a time.

One questionable transaction at a time.

One shrug at a time.

“Da Belize.”

“Nothing wah happen.”

“All ah dem di same.”

Those words may sound harmless.

They are not.

They are the language of surrender.

We cannot build a better Belize while convincing ourselves that demanding answers is pointless.

So whether you support PUP, UDP, a third party, an independent candidate—or nobody at all—there should be common ground here:

Working people’s money deserves protection.

Public institutions deserve scrutiny.

Those entrusted with millions of dollars must answer to the people whose interests they are supposed to serve.

And BZ$40 million is more than enough reason to start asking questions.

The Leader of the Opposition has raised the alarm.

Now HRCU, BEL, the regulators and the relevant authorities should provide the facts.

Then Belizeans can judge those facts for themselves.

Until then:

PAY ATTENTION.
ASK QUESTIONS.
DEMAND DOCUMENTS.
FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Because democracy does not belong to politicians.

It belongs to the people who refuse to sleep through it.

Stay awake, Belize.

— Cyril Uruwei
UBAFU Media & Marketing
Unmuting the Truth. Demanding Change.