Anthony Mahler Defends $50 Million BTB Bond Accounting

Tonight, the spotlight is on a fifty-four-million-dollar question, where exactly did all that money go? The Belize Tourism Board’s 2023 bond is under scrutiny, and P.S.U. President Dean Flowers along with Opposition Senator Sheena Pitts are demanding answers. They’re calling on Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler to show the receipts; how has the Ministry invested those millions, and what’s the real impact on the tourism industry? Well, Minister Mahler isn’t dodging the heat. Appearing on Open Your Eyes, he responded, saying the B.T.B. is regularly audited and that a full report is on the way to show how the funds are being used to strengthen Belize’s tourism sector.

 

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism

“At times when a camera and a mic are put in someone’s face they have to grand stand. They have to come with some level of energy. That is the business. Like I said before I grew up in a house hold is a union household. So I understand that. But there has to be mutual respect. You cant say there is mutual respect but when you go out there you say all kinds of things about the prime minister, about government ministers. There has to be some level of respect. Like I said, both major private sector organizations are on the board of directors for the BTB. There is an audited financial done every year and we put those reports forward to the government and so that will not stop. I have asked for the report to be put together for the bond and I will present those to the nation. What I can tell you is that I have an arsenal to let go on the previous administration, with them getting over ninety million dollars in their term, with nothing to show for it. And I can tell you that each of the project we are working on right now, none of them comes close to the cost of what the previous administration did out of ninety million dollars. And I heard the leader of the opposition talk about mortgaging tourism’ future. Ninety million back then compared to fifty-four million, pales in comparison.”