B.T.L to pay dividends after all

He had originally said that no dividends would be paid out in the near future, but B.T.L.’s majority shareholder, Jeffrey Prosser, has apparently had a change of heart. A press release from Belize Telecommunications Limited issued late Friday evening announced that the company will pay dividends to all shareholders for the year ended March thirty-first, 2004. While there were no specifics on exactly how much will be paid out and to whom, a B.T.L. spokesperson this afternoon told News 5 that the two thousand small shareholders who were on the register on March thirty-first will definitely get their money. It is not yet certain, however, if G.O.B. and the Social Security Board are eligible for dividends due. In a recent interview with News 5, Minister of Finance Ralph Fonseca had said that the interest due to B.T.L. during the period that G.O.B. held the shares while negotiations with Prosser were ongoing would be paid to the treasury, rather than to B.T.L. But the B.T.L. public relations department told News 5 that they are not yet sure if this money will be turned over to G.O.B. The amount of those dividends will be agreed on at the Annual General Meeting scheduled for September and cheques will be issued within two weeks of the A.G.M.