This morning on "Sunup on 7", Minister of Public Utilities and Logistics, Rodwell Ferguson commented on the sudden move and what it could mean for DIGI - as the constitutionally enshrined nationally owned telecom. But according to him, it's all about cutting costs.
Hon. Rodwell Ferguson
"I don't want to speculate, I don't know, But yes. Government of Belize owns a big chunk of BTL when it was bought over by government, I believe in 2009 and again, it comes to competition. I notice the ministry of rural development apparently sat down with SMART and look at their figures and look at their savings and what was offered to them by SMART, I guess they decide to bite the bullet and decide to go with SMART. For ministry at this time when we are in a stringent measure, the budget has been cut by 20% and so every ministry is trying to figure out how they can survive under these activities because of the serious financial situation. I know it will have some effect on BTL and I am the minister responsible for public utilities, but I don't see all the ministries going that direction, because my ministry in particular just actually signed and make sure that we are doing all our business with BTL. So I won't speculate and say who owns SMART, let us see what will unfold in the days to come. At this juncture every ministry has a right to decide to find the best possible deals for themselves."
