BTL's Communication Workers' Union is quickly running out of time to make a deal to buy 37% of the company's shares which is presently held by government. The bottom line is that government is so over-extended in its debt profile that it has to sell the BTL shares and the matter is very much a fiscal emergency. But the unions have not been able to come up with the money and today government's point man on the negotiation, Foreign Affairs Minister Godfrey Smith said a deal will have to be done and soon and the main man may indeed end up being money Mike Ashcroft.
Godfrey Smith, Minister of Information
"What is my personal feeling, and I need to say that this is not necessarily an official government position but my own personal feeling, I think if by the end of this week, we're at the end of the week if by early next week we don't have anything new in relation to the workers, any new permutation of a proposal, then we are going to have to come up with a proposal which will involve substantial participation on behalf of the workers and management of BTL. But we can't just sit by and have nothing done. In a situation like this people have a lot to say, all kinds of ideas, but actions need to be taken at a certain point in time, we can't just let the thing drag on indefinitely. So that's my thought on the first point, we are going to have to propose something to them that will involve them the employees especially."
Jules Vasquez,
Might that proposal involve financing from Michael Ashcroft?
Godfrey Smith,
"It may."
And while the Ashcroft/union possibility sits at one corner of the very complex BTL ownership triangle at the other corner, the ICC versus GOB suit goes to court in Miami on June 8th. The legal maneuvering aside, it's proving to be a very costly battle for government. The Attorney General today confirmed that so far, government's attorney in Miami, the firm of Hunton and Williams has charged GOB US$400,000 for legal services. Add this to the US$1.7 million fine, which is under appeal, and the cost of court for ICC's attorneys, which is also under appeal, and it becomes clear that tangling with Jeff Prosser is one of the most expensive mistakes ever made by the Musa administration.
