Fonseca says solution near on BTL impasse
Since its privatisation in 1988 the Government of Belize and Belize Telecommunications Ltd. have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship, with the monopoly telecom racking up record profits and GOB reaping hefty tax revenues. The only problem was that it was the consumers of Belize who have been left with empty pockets. But with Prime Minister Said Musa’s recent public criticism of BTL and some of BTL’s major shareholders threatening to sue the government it looks like the long term love affair has hit the rocks. Today we asked Budget Minister Ralph Fonseca, a man no stranger to the situation, to give us an update.
Ralph Fonseca, Minister of Budget Planning
“Whenever BTL has a problem, the government of Belize has a problem, the nation of Belize has a problem and the government must do something about it. As an ex-chairman of BTL I know that BTL has great potential, it has great people, great workers, employees have been trained over the years. Belizeans have invested heavily in BTL and while we got a few million dollars when we privatized BTL, the intention was always to have BTL continue to grow and stay internationally competitive. At one time BTL was regionally competitive. Over the last 18 months, there have been problems and it has slowed down. And the Prime Minister and ourselves have just sent a very gentle message to the board of directors that Belizeans will not tolerate that. They have to continue moving forward. I am happy to say that there have been several conversations over the last couple of days. The Prime Minister and myself just met with MCI and the Carlisle people yesterday and today there was a meeting and to a very large extent, there’s a convergence of thinking that’s taking place now. And hoping we’ll have a solution by next week.”
Janelle Chanona
“The investments in BTL from international parties have not been compromised?”
Ralph Fonseca
“For the most part, the investors were confused as to what the government wanted to do in the year 2002 when their license was up, would come up. We have said to them that we’re waiting for them to come forward with an investment plan, that we must be internationally competitive and as long as they bear that in mind that there will always be role in Belize for BTL. At the same time, we cannot possibly stop the development of information technology in Belize and I think for a large extent, they are now willing to accommodate that.”
One major complaint of MCI and Carlisle has been what they term the illegal granting of external telecom privileges to other entities, particularly those associated with Data Pro and its major shareholder, former Tourism Minister Glenn Godfrey. Godfrey’s office today issued a press release outlining the positive impact of Data Pro’s operations, particularly in the areas of employment, technology and foreign exchange.
