Jeffrey Prosser didn't pay the US$57 million for BTL's Carlisle Shares yesterday, and today it looks no better. All we could find out today is that government is negotiating to try and work out a compromise but tonight there is no indication in what direction that will go: whether it will be a compromise with Prosser, a reconciliation with Ashcroft, or another configuration, the most difficult one that would give Belizeans and Social Security an opportunity to buy back into Belize's most profitable company.
What we do know is this: that government has flatly rejected Prosser's letter of last week which states that he has not paid because government has failed to live up to the promises the Prime Minister made to him before he bought into BTL. Government's position is that the $57 million has no conditions attached to it and in fact should have been paid from April of last year.
But reject as it might, the truth is that government made lavish concessions to Prosser which clearly put consumers at a disadvantage. Today the Opposition pounced on the February 27, 2004 letter revealed last night on 7NEWS (See Prosser Doesn't Pay Up} in which Prime Minister Said Musa makes a wide range of promises to Prosser, including the illegalisation of low cost internet long distance calls, the establishment of a floor on international rates, and handcuffing of the Public Utilities Commission. An Opposition statement calls this an astounding letter noting that the undertakings given by the Prime Minister are against the national interest, and appear to be illegal.
And outside all this we should note that while Prosser has not paid the US$57 million that was due yesterday, he has paid close to US$30 million for the Social Security shares. More than that, he's been covering Intelco debts. In his letter of 8 days ago, he reminds the Prime Minister that, "payments were to the secured creditors of Intelco," which we take to be to Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. But then it goes on to say "payments were made...when ICC contemplated arrangement for a bail out of Social Security.." Of course, as has now been revealed in Senate hearings, Social Security never loaned Intelco any money, but acted as guarantor for related Glenn Godfrey companies when they defaulted on their loans. If Prosser is covering those debts, we stress that the money could not go to Social Security which neither guaranteed or made the loan. Presumably that money would go from Prosser to the person or companies liable to pay the debts and that could be Glenn Godfrey's companies such as Western Caribbean Properties and International Telecommunications, or the DFC. The loans as we are referring to them, are actually securitization proceeds amounting to $17 million which were supposed to be used to make real estate investments which it turns out were mythical. Mythical investments but real money guaranteed by the DFC and the Government of Belize.
