B.T.L. gets P.U.C. hearings postponed

Members of the public who had planned to go to the public hearings ordered by the Public Utilities Commission to complain about the new BTL rates had to change their plans today, after learning the hearings have been abruptly postponed. On Monday, B.T.L. took the P.U.C. to the Supreme Court and walked out with an undertaking that binds the P.U.C. not to hold any hearings until a judicial review has been completed. According to Lois Young Barrow, lawyer for the telecommunications company, the P.U.C. has committed several gross procedural irregularities since the new rates took effect. Among them she says is that the P.U.C. has not served B.T.L. copies of the complaints received from the public. Apparently, the type of complaints voiced will determine the powers of the P.U.C. and therefore, B.T.L.’s response. Members of the quasi-judicial body have been also soliciting the public to voice dissatisfaction against the new rate structure and have appeared on several talk shows, making no secret of the fact that they are against the company’s actions, signalling some level of bias. Young Barrow argued these points in front of Supreme Court Judge Awich on Monday, and President of the P.U.C., Gilly Canton and his legal counsel, attorney Derek Courtenay, undertook to allow a judicial review to begin. While the undertaking is not an injunction per say, if the P.U.C. does go ahead and hold a public meeting, they will be in contempt of court. It has been widely believed that this matter would have ended up in court, but the outcome of this review may be a good indicator of the relative strength of the parties.

Meanwhile, members of the Committee for Action on Public Utilities, formerly the Ad Hoc Committee, today sent a letter to B.T.L.’s CEO Edilberto Tesucum requesting that “no action be taken by the company until there are declarations from the Public Utilities Commission and the Government of Belize in respect of the validity of the rates”. The release goes on to list several demands for information to the justification of the new rates. The committee has also vowed to continue their boycott of B.T.L. services until the end of December and mount public protests in every district.