We'll have ICC's very angry reaction to that shortly but first we speak with the Prime Minister on the many twists and turns that his government has gone through with the telecommunication industry. Jules Vasquez caught up with him inspecting an oil well today at Spanish Lookout.
Jules Vasquez,
With Michael Ashcroft as the prime mover behind this and the person who will emerge as the controlling shareholder, will he get a guaranteed rate of return?
Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
"That is one of the issues that is being resolved even as we speak; we are negotiating that out. As you know there was an agreed rate of return that was agreed with Prosser and the Ashcroft companies are of course insisting on, or want, the same sort of treatment."
Jules Vasquez,
Can you see how this will disserve the interest of the consumers because this will drive up, obviously there is all kind of fudging of the books that can create a false bottom line and force rates up?
Said Musa,
"Yes that is a very big concern of ours and that is why we are still negotiating that issue. We want to ensure that it does not have a negative impact on rates. Of course there are only one or two ways of dealing with that. Once there is a rate of return, its either it will affect rates or the assistance from government."
Jules Vasquez,
But is this not predicated on his assumption of the Intelco debts which the government guaranteed without any public knowledge?
Said Musa,
"Yes that's part of the negotiating agreement that BTL will assume, I think its US$19+ million of the Intelco debt, to government now. But of course that's in our interest to get back..."
Jules Vasquez,
Would you agree that we've been provoked into an injurious position because of the poor decision made by the government to make a guarantee for those Intelco debts?
Said Musa,
"You don't expect me to agree with that blanket statement do you? Obviously along the way things have not worked out the way we intended them to and we are now rectifying the situation."
Jules Vasquez,
But you are rectifying it at the expense of the interest of the consumers who will be disserved by a guaranteed rate of return which must be assured in order to cover those Intelco debts?
Said Musa,
"Well Jules you seem to have all the questions and answers so why ask me."
Jules Vasquez,
But you made those decisions and I am asking you to account for them."
Said Musa,
"Oh to account. Well I don't agree with the premise the way you put it. What I would say is the Intelco issue certainly did not work out and, yes, it has created some problems for Belize, for the government of Belize and the Belizean people, and we are sorting that out now; we are working through that."
Jules Vasquez,
Will the PUC move decisively to de-authorize the golden share that was, by the pronouncement of the Chief Justice, wrongly sold to Jeff Prosser for a $1, a dollar which he has not paid as well?
Said Musa,
"That is so. He has not paid for it and since we could not, it seems we cannot get it back through the judicial process, then it will require the legislative action that we took today to deal with that."
Jules Vasquez,
Do you fear the juridical consequence of this in the international court, in the court in Miami to which we acceded sovereignty?
Said Musa,
"I don't think so because a) he did not pay for it but b) what is the damage? Nominal as far as we are concerned."
Jules Vasquez,
Its US$50,000 a day and there's this...
Said Musa,
"That's an entirely separate issue. That is a question of the contempt dealing with the structure of the board of directors."
Jules Vasquez,
But the golden share entitles you to two persons on the board of directors.
Said Musa,
"Yes of course but if you don't have it then you're not entitled (to it)."
Adele Ramos, AMANDALA Newspaper
"Can you say what's holding up the BTL sale and why the timing of going to the House today with these legislative amendments to the BTL and PUC Acts?"
Said Musa,
"Well we have to work through all the possible stumbling blocks. Anybody who is putting up money obviously wants to ensure that he is not walking into an ants nest. Obviously the only reason, and perhaps the main reason, why for instance the workers have not been able to secure funding from the banks for investment in BTL is that very reason, that the thing is very complicated."
Jules Vasquez,
Is the entire transaction with the union presupposed on the premise that they buy into a trust where they would presumably have the beneficial rights but not the ownership or voting rights to those shares which must be retained as one under the Ashcroft umbrella so that he can retain control of the C shares?
Said Musa,
"Well the short answer to that is that whoever puts up the money will obviously insist that the shares be pledged as a collateral until the shares are paid for."
Jules Vasquez,
Mr. Ashcroft has characterized at various points that Intelco was a sting; he accused you of trying to set him up in a sting. Secondly he publicly told me in an interview that he offered interconnection and you refused it, he offered interconnection at 5 cents per call until an international arbitrator could determine a rate. Looking at all these things and looking that he is now buying the shares back at a discounted price, having had $17 million in taxes written off, do you feel that it is a monstrous error of judgement and of competence on the part of the government of Belize led by yourself who gave Jeffrey Prosser undertakings in a letter?
Said Musa,
"First of all we did not write off $17 million in debt. We had a set-off based on what the company owed in taxes based on what the lawyers advised would be the potential cost of going through this arbitration in London for breach of contract. In terms of denying interconnection, the history is there to show that BTL, under the management then, refused to provide interconnection."
Jules Vasquez,
So Michael Ashcroft lied to me?
Said Musa,
"That is your conclusion. He told you many things I am sure."
And if you picked up the sudden end of that interview, you'll see that it was Deputy John Briceno swooping in to save the Prime Minister from answering any more questions.
