B.T.L. board meeting held; contempt fines end

It seems the fifty thousand dollars a day metre finally stopped running today as the government of Belize complied with a Miami court order. This morning at the Esquivel Telecom Centre in Belize City, Jeffrey Prosser and his appointed directors, as well as directors for Ecom and G.O.B. held a board meeting with most of its members attending from abroad via teleconferencing. The I.C.C. camp, which included chairman Jeffrey Prosser, Sir Ronald Saunders, Bobby Luana, and Dr. Ursula Barrow-Waverly, were joined by government representative Keith Arnold, while Sir Michael Ashcroft, Philip Osborne, and Dean Boyce represented Ecom. B.T.L. attorney Michael Young and Board Secretary Wilman Black and an attorney for Prosser were also there, in person. Just what was accomplished at the meeting, which lasted from about nine a.m. to just before noon, is not being made public and board members declined interviews after the meeting.

This is the latest attempt by G.O.B. to comply with the court order issued by Miami Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages last month. The first effort on April eighteenth reportedly failed because telecommunications were down due to a B.T.L. worker strike. Justice Ungaro-Benages did not buy this argument however and emphasised on May second that she would still hold Belize in contempt and the fifty thousand U.S. dollars a day fine would continue to mount until the meeting with Prosser directors was held. It is still not clear though whether the final fine will be one point six million or one point seven-five million U.S. dollars. The amount depends on whether the judge takes into account the fact that the board meeting originally set for May second was unilaterally changed by Jeffrey Prosser to today, May sixth. The Belizean government was also informed that government assets on deposit in the United States Federal Reserve system could be attached.

However, even though the Miami judge seeks to compel G.O.B. to respect the Prosser board, the Chief Justice of Belize, Abdulai Conteh, has upheld the composition of a board largely dominated by Prosser rival Sir Michael Ashcroft’s Carlisle Holdings. And so B.T.L. finds itself in a situation where it appears to have two board of directors; one recognized by a court abroad, and one by the Belizean courts. For the moment, it appears G.O.B. is preferring to placate the Miami judge, since it did not send any of its representatives to a meeting of the Ashcroft board on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Prosser is taking the Government of Belize to court in the United States claiming the government illegally seized control of the company he was purchasing. G.O.B. has countered that it had to step in and take back the company when Prosser failed to meet payment deadlines.