The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday told his critics, who have questioned his administration’s take back of the majority stake in the Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTC), that the government’s actions will be revealed in the results of Parliament’s select committee probe.

He said this investigation was ordered so there is evidence that the telecommunications provider is 51 per cent owned by the Bahamians people.

Responding to the naysayers, Mr Christie revealed that upon successfully negotiating the two per cent share transfer from Cable and Wireless Communications to a foundation, the company “put a million dollars in the bank to start us off”.

“I said I would negotiate two per cent,” Mr Christie said as he addressed industry professionals gathered during the Bahamas Business Outlook yesterday.

“It was not two per cent to control because that wouldn’t happen. That would be force or coercing them. It was two per cent economic interest. They (critics) said I haven’t accounted for it and that’s not true.

“BTC put a million dollars in the bank to start us off. (Labour Minister) Shane Gibson has a committee in Parliament and I have asked the committee in Parliament to get the necessary evidence and present it to the Bahamian people so that they can be positive of the fact that 51 per cent of BTC is owned by the people of the Bahamas two per cent, through the (BTC) Foundation.

“That has been agreed to and the new company Liberty that is taking over and purchasing, we are in the process of giving consideration to approving their application right now (for) whatever conditions that will be applied to the application for their continued presence in our country,” he added.

“But I think again we must learn from it. When we agreed to bring in a new cell (company) my government indicated that we wanted 51 per cent to be owned and blocked off for distribution to the people of our country.

“Cable and Wireless was owning 49 per cent and managing it. Ultimately the pension funds and credit unions will be distributing the shares that we purchased and if in fact there is any difficulty then it will go to the retail market.

“But the problem is that we are not learning from the experience of BTC and its sale to be able empower more Bahamians in ownership.”

BTC was sold to Cable and Wireless in 2011 under the previous Ingraham administration.

Last November, the government moved a resolution in Parliament to establish a select committee to probe the controversial sale.

Suggesting the 2011 sale was essentially a “give away”, Mr Gibson at the time 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 then Free National Movement (FNM) government sold BTC and what its parent company 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.

Earlier this month, the committee met, but without Official Opposition members.

Mr Gibson, who heads the committee, confirmed to The Tribune that the panel began its charge to investigate, examine and inquire into the circumstances and facts relating to the privatisation of the company.

Committee members include South Beach MP Cleola Hamilton, and Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller, who are both members of the governing Progressive Liberal Party, and Montagu MP Richard Lightbourn and North Eleuthera MP Theo Neilly, who are members of the Free National Movement.

Mr Neilly advised the committee that he was travelling and could not attend, according to Mr Gibson, but said there was no response from Mr Lightbourn.

However Mr Lightbourn has said he was unaware of the meeting.

However, Mr Gibson has argued in Parliament that all members were notified, while admitting that the subject line of the email has the incorrect date when the meeting was to occur.