G.O.B. takes over Companies Registry, retains staff

While government has figured out how to sell its B.T.L. shares to the public, it has apparently not yet made up its mind about how to deal with its embarrassing about-face on the issue of stamp duty on its previous share sales to Ecom. Following yesterday’s short press release stating that G.O.B. will end the arrangement with the privatised Companies Registry and seek a full refund of its two million dollar plus payment, the silence from Belmopan has been deafening. We asked Press Office chief Vaughn Gill to solicit an appearance from a Cabinet member to explain the situation, but the usually well connected Gill told us that no one would even return his phone calls. He did, however, manage to churn out a late evening press release that assures the public that although government is taking back the Registry and Intellectual Property Office, the staff will be unaffected. In a meeting today with workers, Ministry of Finance officials explained that their status as government employees would be regularised, and that henceforth all fees collected will go to the government treasury, with official G.O.B. receipts issued. What Belmopan has yet to make clear is why the Registry was privatised in the first place, why it was done without competitive tenders, why the financial split so heavily favoured the Registry and finally, why Government paid the massive stamp duty when it appears that the only beneficiary would be the private owners of the Companies Registry?