Employees trustees meet with B.T.L. employees

This past June fourteenth, the Court of Appeal handed down a legal victory for Telemedia workers when it ruled in a case brought by Dean Boyce and Keith Arnold on behalf of the Belize Telemedia Limited Employees Trust.  The judgment proved the legitimacy of the Trust which was established in 2005 under Sunshine Holdings Limited. It is seen as a major victory because of another case before the courts, which seeks to challenge the constitutionality of the acquisition of Telemedia last August. If the court determines that Telemedia shares should go back to its shareholders as it was before the takeover, then the trust owns twenty-three percent of the shareholdings of Telemedia which when estimated is valued at roughly eighty-five million dollars after debt fulfillment.  In light of last Monday’s ruling, Boyce and Attorney Godfrey Smith convened a meeting with Telemedia employees on Wednesday night. This afternoon News Five sat down with Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith who said the meeting was primarily a medium for members of the Trust to ask relevant questions as it pertains to the way forward.

Godfrey Smith, Attorney, BTL Employee Trust

“Last night at the Radisson in furtherance of a notice that had gone out in the newspaper, one of the trustees of the B.T.L. Employees Trust, Mr. Dean Boyce, called for a meeting with the employees of Telemedia along with myself as attorney for the trust to update the employees of B.T.L. on matters affecting the trust. There was a recent Court of Appeal decision confirming the validity and existence of the trust. Also we wanted to bring them up to date on—separate from that case there’s another case which affects the employees in terms of their interest in the shares in Telemedia.  That case challenges the very constitutionality of the acquisition of Telemedia by the government of Belize. So we wanted to bring them up to date on that as well as to discuss financial and other legal aspects of the trust, how the cases in court impact the trust and they as beneficiaries under the trust.”

Isani Cayetano

“Can you speak to us on the turnout at the meeting and how that may affect their knowledge of what is actually happening with this particular situation?”

Godfrey Smith

“Certainly, three employees turned up at the meeting along with two past employees.  Now, I note from the newspapers that an issue is made of the turnout of the meeting that is to miss the point entirely. At stake is not a popularity contest. It didn’t matter—it only mattered if one person came, if one person came that would have been enough. This isn’t something about numbers. The real question to be asked is why did the management of Telemedia, if they have nothing to hide, if the trust is bogus, if there is nothing in the trust for the benefit of the employees, why did they put out the word within the hallowed halls of Telemedia that people who attended the meeting would be dismissed?  Why did they try to completely prevent employees from hearing what we had to say?”