And another outlandish move the government has been accused of is moving from the national telecoms provider, BTL, to Smart. This would not only be a huge loss for a company that is already in the teeth of a financial dilemma, but would also seem like a clear act of nepotism since Smart is owned by the PM's relatives.
We put the question to the PM today and he, with a deep sigh, clarified that the government is not pulling out of BTL, rather Smart has created a more effective package for the employees of the Ministry of Labor and Rural Transformation.
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"(sigh) I will not go down the road of the former prime minister so I will just answer your question. But there is no policy that government is moving from one company to the next company. The issue is simply a matter of economics. The CEO from rural development is saying they had these 30 dollar plan for the workers who are out in the field and they were complaining that their 30 dollars go up quickly and they met with BTL and they met with Smart and Smart gave them a better deal and that's why Smart decided to go down that route. I can tell you that there's not a single person in government or outside of government that can say that I have called any one of them to move their business from BTL to Smart."
Jules Vasquez:
"But isn't it true that Smart was allowed to go into the Cabinet room and make a pitch for its various services?"
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Well it is true that both companies were invited to make a pitch for the service they've prepared because there is a lot dissatisfaction with the level of customer service that BTL provides and so both companies were invited to come in with the CEO's, not with the ministers, I wasn't even aware that that was gong to take place until after the fact."
Reporter:
"Mr. Briceno, but would you concede that BTL being government owned, that government could have made concessions to make packages more attractive for those who were interested in switching out the services as you said earlier."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I will concede nothing simply because as it is right not, the government is propping up BTL for millions of dollars, if it wasn't for government, BTL would have gone bankrupt, because ethe amount of monies we have paid for BTL which is almost 600 million dollars not counting interest, BTL will never be able to pay that back, how much did they learn last year? You're the BTL expert."
Jules Vasquez:
"1.3 million dollars."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"1.3 million dollars, you think they will pay 600 million dollars and not pay interest? As it is right now, BTL owes the government millions of dollars in taxes, millions of dollars in dividends. We have been propping up this company, this company also have to become more efficient and more effective and more driven by customer service. Not because they are a monopoly, or owned by the government, they can charge what they want because then the private sector is going to leave them to."
"Maybe this is a wake up call for BTL to get their act together because the government is not moving. We still have millions of dollars of business with BTL."
A release from Smart also confirmed the PM's comments. They say they are aware of a directive from GOB for Ministries to institute cost saving measures, and as such, GOB had accepted the best offer for the provision of services. The release continues, quote, "As a result, BTL and Smart can now equally pursue government business by way of tenders. Proposals from Smart have allowed the Ministries for the first time in many years to compare alternative proposals that result in considerable savings on their telecom bills, something that Smart's Corporate clients can attest to." End quote.
They also note that the government must represent all personS in Belize equally and that they should not be biased towards BTL at the expense of Smart. And since GOB is the largest consumers of telecommunication services in the country, if it were to be biased against Smart, it would, quote, "distort the telecommunications market and reduce the ability of Smart to compete fairly." End quote.
Meanwhile, in a release from BTL's Belize Communications Workers Union, they are expressing their discontent at this move. They claim it is three ministries who are switching, including the PM's own ministry of finance, plus the ministry of rural development, labor and local government, and the ministry of foreign affairs. What the BCWU classifies as GOB's sudden and unjustified termination of phone lines, cellphone plans, and the non-renewal of software licenses which they say has resulted in losses of 3 million dollars to the company's revenues.
Their release also says, quote, The BCWU fails to identify any logical reasoning behind these changes made by the ministry personnel. Quote, "Therefore, we are forced to deduce that this act is a complete abuse of power with direct nepotistic validation to Speednet Communications Limited, an entity with which several major Government elements has known ties. This act takes money directly out of the public purse and places it in the hands of private citizens whose direct link to the government cannot be overlooked." End quote.
They're now asking Briceno's Cabinet to take immediate action to rectify this behavior and for the PM to mandate that the services that were terminated and the services not renewed, to be reinstated immediately.
The note that the revenue loss will have adverse effects of the SSB, Central Bank, and ultimately, the people of Belize.
