P.M. explains INTELCO failure…

Unfortunately, for Said Musa, the boys from Carnival are not the only foreign businessmen on his case. The new owner of B.T.L. appears to be promoting deals even far more convoluted than his predecessor…and the ignominious collapse and purchase of Intelco has left most Belizeans with the uncomfortable feeling that–once again–we’ve been had. How does the P.M. see it?

Said Musa

?Well, there’s always value in hindsight; twenty/twenty vision. But I think we need to do the analysis based on what obtained at the time. What obtained at the time was the Government clearly wanted to bring about an information technology revolution in Belize. We wanted to have internet availability for all our schools and that was a major part of the thinking driving the programme. We also wanted to achieve competition. We also wanted B.T.L. to carry out expansion on a business plan that they had refused to carry out. And it was a torturous experience sitting down with members from the B.T.L. Board to ask them and try and push them towards providing telephone services for the people in Toledo, for people in the remote parts of the Belize District; in fact for all over this country. They were only quite happy to do areas that they were making money on without carrying out any social responsibility towards expanding B.T.L. It was a frustrating experience for our Government that promised the people that we would expand services; expand access to these facilities and in turn work towards bringing down rates. It was in that context that an agreement was made with Intelco. Originally, you must remember it was also backed by a company out of Asia, L.G., a very highly reputable company. Now that did not pan out as it turned out in the end. But it was in that situation that Government entered into this fifteen-year agreement with Intelco to provide services to the Government. The other aspect is this, that the fact of the matter is that with this interconnection or rather this intercom system that Intelco provided for the Government, we were able to save a lot of money in terms of telephone calls. It was much cheaper to have this intercom system than to have us paying B.T.L. for every call made from one department to the next. In other words what I am saying to you is that if that project had succeeded we would not be asking these questions today.?

And why didn’t the Intelco dream succeed?

Said Musa

?Why? Well that’s what the debate is all about; why has it not succeeded? A large part of that has to do with the dominant player in the system taking on Intelco and deciding to destroy it. It’s simple as that.?