The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

According to a front page story in The Nassau Guardian on Saturday, 30 August, entitled “BTC Deal Finalised”, Mr Phil Bentley is encouraging the Government to be flexible with BTC needs for duty concessions and foreign work permits.

He went on to specifically thank the Minister Responsible for Immigration for facilitating getting the required international skills on island for BTC.

The privatisation of BTC was meant to stop all the preferential treatment meted out to Government monopolies.

Now it seems that following the sham investment of 2 per cent of CWC’s shares in BTC into a Foundation whose benefits are earmarked for the benefit of Bahamians, CWC expects to enjoy the benefits of a monopoly.

Someone needs to remind Mr Christie that a privatised BTC is meant to play by the rules that apply to all players in the private sector particularly those rules relating to paying customs duties and those about the employment of Bahamians.

Mr Christie needs to come clean about all the “understandings” he has given to CWC to accomplish what he is still trying to pass off as the fulfilment of a pre-election promise to regain majority control of BTC by the Government.

We all know that CWC maintains majority control of BTC regardless to what shares are placed in the BTC Foundation.

And, it is not lost on us that having manoeuvred Mr Carl Culmer out of his job at BTC, the Government facilitated his replacement with a foreign national.

Mr Christie should be on notice that the Bahamian people expect that BTC will pay the same customs duty on all of their imports as is paid by Cable Bahamas and those that will be paid by any new company approved as the second (and later the third) provider of cellular service in The Bahamas.

GEOFFREY COOPER

Nassau,

August 29, 2014