Ecom claims it wants no more than 25% of B.T.L.
Tonight a confusing press release printed in the local media has added yet another bizarre twist to the fiasco that has become the sale of Belize Telecommunications Limited. This is the latest development: a statement from Ecom claiming that “public comment has sought to suggest that the Government intends to divest twelve point five percent of its holdings in B.T.L. to Ecom.” According to the company, “such comment is incorrect” as the entity does not intend to purchase more than ten percent of the Government’s shares in B.T.L. Furthermore, the release, paid for by ECOM Director and Carlisle attorney Jose Alpuche, states that “in the event that any such transaction goes ahead in the future, ECOM would only propose to increase its current shareholding in B.T.L. from fifteen to twenty-five percent.” The only kink in Ecom?s argument however is that such “public comment” was uttered from the Prime Minister himself in the House of Representatives meeting on June seventeenth…and well, we’d hope that at least Belmopan would know who was buying B.T.L.
Prime Minister Said Musa (17-7-05 House Meeting)
?Madam Speaker, the Government of Belize therefore propose to dispose of the shares in the following manner. Of the thirty-seven and a half of the shares, twenty percent will be transferred to a company that will hold the shares for the B.T.L. workers. If the B.T.L. workers decide that they are interested in acquiring the twenty percent shareholding, through a loan facility the shares will be put into the name of a trust entity to hold the shares on their behalf. A further five percent will be made available through over the counter at the Central Bank to the Belizean public at large. The final twelve and a half percent will be sold to Ecom. The Belize Bank, a financial institution associated with Ecom, will facilitate financing of the loan facility to the workers of B.T.L. in the event that the workers decide to take up the twenty percent that will be held in reserve for them.?
With this week’s Supreme Court ruling in favour of the Belize Telecommunications Workers Trust, granting an injunction against the sale of the government shares to Michael Ashcroft, it is believed this latest release might be a legal attempt to muddy the waters prior to the trial on Monday. At that time, the courts will give its interpretation of a “permitted person”… an issue the B.T.L. workers took to court given that with Michael Ashcroft’s current twenty-five percent stake in the company, the additional twelve and a half percent would take its holdings to thirty-seven and a half percent. The workers maintain that according to the B.T.L.’s articles of association, only a permitted person, which they assert Ashcroft is not, can own more than twenty-five percent of the company.
