The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) decision to downsize by 150 persons was yesterday said to have put the Government “in a stew” over its earlier claims to have regained majority ownership for the Bahamian people.

Branville McCartney, the Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) leader, told Tribune Business that the Christie administration effectively ‘wanted it both ways’ when it came to majority ownership and control at BTC.

He said that when it was convenient, such as the time when it announced the ‘2 per cent Foundation’ deal with Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), the Government touted it had regained the ‘51 per cent majority interest’ in BTC for Bahamians/

Yet when it was inconvenient, especially in times of bad news such as BTC’s plans to cut staffing levels pre-cellular liberalisation, Mr McCartney pointed out that two Cabinet ministers had raced to describe the communications carrier as a private entity over which the Government had no influence.

After BTC’s downsizing plans were revealed last week, both Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis and Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, were quick to say there was little the Government could do to prevent it - effectively washing their, and the administration’s, hands of the matter.

Seizing on the contradictions, Mr McCartney told this newspaper that if the Government’s ‘Foundation deal’ comments were true - and it had regained the controlling 51 per cent interest - then it was the one seeking to reduce BTC’s workforce by 150.

Yet if it was not, the DNA leader said this effectively ‘gave the lie’ to the Government’s ‘BTC ownership’ claims at that time.

“It is certain that they were not truthful with the Bahamian people when they said they had regained the majority controlling interest in BTC a few months back,” Mr McCartney told Tribune Business.

“When the Government came out of those negotiations, they said they were feeling good about the company now, it was on an even keel, and they were looking forward to doing business with Cable & Wireless.

“If, at the end of the day, the Government has the controlling shares or majority ownership of BTC, then it is the Government laying off the people in BTC,” the DNA leader said.

“But, if this is a private company, they lied to the Bahamian people on the ownership and control of BTC, and the Bahamas Government only owns 49 per cent.

“Are they the ones laying off 150 Bahamian people if they have the controlling shares, or is it a private company where they don’t have majority control? It’s one or the other. You can’t have both. They’ve got themselves in a stew.”

Tribune Business reported at the time that the ‘Foundation deal’ was a smoke and mirrors agreement that allowed both the Government and CWC to claim victory, and gain what they wanted.

From the Christie administration’s perspective, it was able to say that it had re-claimed a majority 51 per cent equity interest for the Bahamian people, once its 49 per cent shareholding was combined with the ‘2 per cent Foundation’.

The latter’s shares, though, are non-voting, with the Foundation intended to fund charitable, sporting and other good causes.

As for CWC, it has retained enough shares to give it the largest BTC holding, enabling it to consolidate the latter’s results with its own, while also retaining Board and management control.

Thus while the BTC downsizing decision is CWC’s, the Government still has three Board seats and can exert some ‘persuasive influence’ over the move, although it is not in control of events.

Still, Mr McCartney’s comments highlight the dilemma that BTC’s downsizing decision has created for the Christie administration, given its earlier comments on regaining majority control.

“If the Bahamian Government has a controlling interest, it means they are laying off 150 people from BTC. The same government that says they believe in Bahamians,” Mr McCartney added.

“If they have no say, it means they were lying through their teeth when they said they’d regained a controlling interest in BTC.”