B.T.L. employees accuse G.O.B. of bad faith
With a government proclaimed deadline of June fifth looming large and no deal on the table, representatives of B.T.L. employees are growing restless as their chances of purchasing over thirty-seven percent of the company are breaking up like a bad cell phone connection. Today union representatives accused Belmopan of hindering their efforts to Belizeanize the telecommunications giant.
Mark Usher, Union Negotiator
?Since April twenty-second to date, we have seen two major propaganda launched by the Government of Belize. One, they circulated an M.O.U. which they claim was the result of us agreeing, us and them agreeing that we have a way forward. When we got hold of the M.O.U., the M.O.U. was content-less. In other words, it only alluded to a certain amount of things and it never alluded to the two critical things that the bank is talking about: control, critical control and critical, us having the shares in our hand immediately. So we said well that M.O.U. is a waste of time G.O.B. because we don?t have everything in place, so let?s sit again and go back. The next thing we know, G.O.B. starts putting out this thing that there is a June fifth deadline. So we were like oh, what is this now, how come we suddenly have a deadline.?
?But yet beyond that, the fact that G.O.B. is saying that they need that amount of money and they are not doing anything to help us getting it makes it even worst and it just points to the fact that the Government of Belize has no intention of living up to their promise of actually giving us a fair chance. Because we are not asking for the moon, sun, and stars, we are asking for a fair chance to make G.O.B. come clean with what they promise us and by extension the Belizean people. So that?s where it is.?
And while Usher accuses government of cooking the books on its loan repayment schedule, he says that B.T.L. employees are not ready to give up.
Mark Usher
?If we were to walk away from the negotiating table then we would be branded as irrational, irresponsible, and all the bills that we don?t want to be identified with. And that?s the reason why we continue to try to make an effort. But when it is that you are sitting around a table and you know that you are being pushed around and you?re being taken for a fool for a lack of a better phrase, then it is frustrating. But what we are saying is we need the Belizean people to understand that the June fifth date is not a realistic date, especially when the Government of Belize has not lived up to anything they promised in the April twenty-second meeting which we had with them. They have not given us a transfer agreement. They can give us a transfer agreement today. As I am speaking they can write that agreement and give us.?
When contacted this evening, Minister of Information Godfrey Smith denied that government has reneged on any agreement with the B.T.L. employee group because there simply was none. Smith said that when last the two sides spoke, the workers were to get back to G.O.B. to say when they were ready for a teleconference with bankers in Miami to explore yet another financing option, a call that G.O.B. is still waiting for. Despite that, Smith says G.O.B. has been working with the employees to facilitate meetings with different financial institutions, but that no one can force a bank to lend money. As for the transfer agreement which Usher mentioned, Smith says there is no way G.O.B. can offer one, unless there is agreement on how the workers are going to pay for the shares.
