The Tribune

By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MONTAGU MP Richard Lightbourn yesterday expressed doubt that the newly formed select committee to probe the controversial sale of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd will ever produce a report.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Lightbourn said he “would not be surprised” if nothing comes out of the “unnecessary” probe, rather he believes the formation of the committee was just a “distraction” by the government.

Last week, the government moved a resolution in Parliament to establish a select committee to probe the sale of BTC to Cable and Wireless.

Suggesting the 2011 sale was essentially a “give away”, Minister of Labour Shane Gibson called the decision to privatise the telecommunications provider “damaging,” as he pointed to BTC’s revenue generation abilities.

The Golden Gates MP was also adamant that some inconsistency might exist between the cost at which the FNM government sold BTC and what CWC actually paid for it. BTC was sold to CWC for $210m, but Mr Gibson highlighted that in CWC’s audited financial statement, the company said it purchased the company at a cost of $204m.

Mr Gibson is the chairman of the committee, whose other members include South Beach MP Cleola Hamilton, and Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller, who are PLP, and Long Island MP Loretta Butler Turner and Mr Lightbourn, who are FNM.

“We have not met yet,” Mr Lightbourn said on Tuesday.

“That is not unusual since the committee was just formed, but personally I would not be surprised if nothing ever happens. I don’t think the government has any intention of proceeding with this. We will meet a few times but we probably will not have a report. This will all just be a distraction to divert attention away from the situation in Andros and the government giving away our land. This is nothing but a smoke screen.”

The PLP, then in opposition, was seriously opposed to the sale of BTC. It vowed to take back the 51 per cent majority share stake from CWC if it was elected to office.

When the party defeated the FNM in the 2012 general election, a committee was formed to deal with the matter.

Later, in 2013, Sir Franklyn Wilson, lead negotiator in the take back negotiations, said that due to “shocking revelations” that pointed to an “horrendously bad deal” it was recommended to Prime Minister Perry Christie that a select committee be appointed to probe BTC’s sale. He also suggested that the deal benefited the company and not the Bahamian people.

After lengthy negotiations steeped in controversy, the prime minister in early 2014 announced that his government was successful in wrangling two per cent of the BTC shares from CWC’s hold. These shares were to be placed into the newly created BTC Foundation.

However, CWC retained board and management control of BTC and the foundation owned the two per cent equity stake that CWC relinquished.

This left both CWC and the government with matching 49 per cent equity stakes in BTC. It was perceived to be a “face saving deal”.