Fonseca: B.T.L. sale nearly complete

They are two issues providing a field day for the opposition: the stalled sale of B.T.L. to Innovative Communication and the bankruptcy of Novelo’s Bus Line. Today Minister of Finance Ralph Fonseca, a man intimately involved with both deals, weighed in for the government. In the case of B.T.L., he says a long and arduous process is about to be completed.

Ralph Fonseca, Minister of Finance

“We’re working, we’re still working. It’s in the hands of the lawyers; it’s lawyers now. We’re hoping that they get their acts together by the end of this week.”

Janelle Chanona

“Are the shares still in the legal box you spoke of in our earlier interviews?”

Ralph Fonseca

“Yes.”

Janelle Chanona

“Is there any indication that you might have to resort to the plan B that you spoke of as well, resorting to other investors going into that?”

Ralph Fonseca

“So far it looks not. It looks like we’re going through with I.C.C.”

Janelle Chanona

“Did the recent Supreme Court decision about the refund kind of cleared the way? Was that a hang up in the negotiations?”

Ralph Fonseca

“No, that was never a hang up. The due diligence process took a very long time, a lot longer that we thought and the whole matter of interconnection, that sort of thing, trying to get from B.T.L. the actual liabilities of B.T.L., the Opposition attacking the project knowing that this would cause problems with the new people coming in, and obviously that was planned. Planned domestically and internationally in order to try and kill the sale has caused them problems to get their insurance. But I think they have everything put together now.”

Janelle Chanona

“So it’s just the lawyers holding this up?”

Ralph Fonseca

“The lawyers making sure that they can get everything in place and that they know for sure that the disclosures that they got from B.T.L. are the only disclosures that are there.”