U.D.P. condemns I.C.C. deal
It was vintage Dean Barrow and the United Democratic Party this afternoon as they staged a press conference to disclose details of the agreement that gave International Communication Corporation majority ownership of B.T.L. Armed with the thirty-page document, Barrow explained that the agreement essentially gives Jeffrey Prosser massive tax breaks and concessions that leave Belizean consumers out in the cold. Calling the provisions of the agreement scandalous, Barrow said the whole deal “stinks to high heaven.” Here are the highlights.
Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“When there are transfers of shares, when there is a sale of land, when there is a sale of property in this country that sale attracts stamp duty. Government has committed that for this almost two hundred million dollars transaction, Prosser will pay no transfer tax.”
“Section 7.8.1 of this agreement which is headed “disposition of interconnectivity issues” says that the government shall use its best endeavours to ensure interconnectivity between B.T.L. and the licensees, the licensees being Intelco and Speednet, in such a manner that charges for interconnection services and facilities shall reflect B.T.L.’s costs base upon a total system costs allocation and will include a return on capital investment after tax of fifteen percent per annum.”
“The government agrees to hold I.C.C. and B.T.L. or any one of them and their respective directors, officers, employees, and agents harmless from and against all judgements, damages, losses claims, liens, penalties, obligations, liabilities, settlements and expenses including reasonable attorneys fees arising out of-and by the way, Prosser brought two attorneys so when the Prime Minister’s law firm as local attorney collects the amount that I understand it collected, we need to ask some questions. But government is giving an indemnity in respect of any litigation set forth in section 7.8 of this agreement.”
After the press conference, Barrow told News 5’s Patrick Jones that the U.D.P. intends to milk the issue for all its political worth.
Dean Barrow
“To understand how terribly they’ve been betrayed by the government. How they have been lied to, how they have been kept in the dark and how when finally they are able to see the agreement that the government has made that they will appreciate that it’s an absolutely disastrous agreement that violates in a fundamental way the national interests, the best interests of the people of this country.”
Patrick Jones
“Where do you lay blame in all this? You certainly can’t fault Mr. Prosser, he is a businessman who saw an opportunity and took it?”
Dean Barrow
“Absolutely. We have no quarrel with Prosser. Our quarrel is with the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister and the People’s United Party administration. They jacked themselves up against a wall. The borrowed money to buy from Carlisle and thus placed themselves in a position where they had to sell and where in order to persuade Mr. Prosser to buy they had to make these extraordinary giveaways. Nobody can blame Mr. Prosser, he is as you say a businessman, he takes advantage of situations that he has not pressured anybody to create. He takes advantage of fools and idiots, such as appeared to be a represented in our national government, unfortunately.”
“Well I think the exposure today will serve to undermine the government’s credibility fundamentally. I think a serious blow will be dealt to government’s credibility. People will realize that this government cannot be trusted. Cannot be trusted to tell the nation the truth, but worse cannot be trusted to negotiate effectively for this country. It would seem to me that this is a very important weapon now in the arsenal of the U.D.P. who is determined to try and win the next general elections. If we can continue to show how this country has been betrayed by the current administration then we can persuade people to vote for change on the next occasion.”
