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(REAL News) — The United Progressive (UPP) says it has made no recommendations or suggestions to Prime Minister Gaston Browne or his administration on how funds derived from the sale of the Alfa Nero should be spent. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHATSAPP GROUP FOR NEWS UPDATES.
Further, it is categorically denying Browne’s assertion, on his affiliated radio station, that the Party – after refusing to support the sale – is attempting to dictate how the sale proceeds are spent.
Earlier, Party Chairman D.Gisele Isaac reported that she had been approached by a Government official, who encouraged the UPP to compile a list of constituency projects it would like to see funded, and which its MP’s could present in Parliament.
Isaac says she reminded the Port Authority official that the UPP had already presented its position in both Houses of Parliament and has seen no reason to change it – especially given the raft of legal
challenges the Government will face.
The Port Authority Act was amended to allow the Browne Administration to seize the yacht after declaring it “abandoned,” and then to acquire and sell the luxury vessel.
During the debate in the Lower House, MP Sherfield Bowen argued against the Administration’s intention to deposit the proceeds of the sale into the Consolidated Fund.
He noted the probability that financial institutions could have an interest in the vessel, and he put forward the moral argument that the profits should be repatriated to The Ukraine, as the victim of
Russian aggression.
In the Upper House, meanwhile, Senator Shawn Nicholas advised the Government to hold the money in an escrow account – rather than spend it – until all legal challenges had been settled.
Given these statements – made and reiterated publicly – Isaac says that Browne’s claim is “just another of the prime minister’s fictions.”
Meanwhile, sources have confirmed that the recent Court of Appeal decision on the ownership of the yacht – which allowed the sale to go forward – will come up for hearing at the Privy Council next
week.
Reports say the alleged beneficial owner of the multimillion-dollar vessel is asserting that she is not interested in compensation; rather, she wants possession of the yacht.
Payment to the Government by the new owner – New York resident Eric Schmidt – is due by Friday, June 30 – seven days after the sale. Observers tell REAL News they are waiting to see whether Schmidt
will “go through” with the transaction, given that several lawsuits against the Browne Administration are now in train.
On Tuesday, certain Cabinet Members, along with Port officials, reportedly held an emergency meeting with their legal counsel on the Privy Council matter.
“The UPP is part of the audience; we are keeping far from this,” Chairman Isaac declares.
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