The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

MARLON Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing at the Bahamas Telecommunications Company, was tight-lipped yesterday over the terms of his resignation from the organisation.

Mr Johnson will demit office at the end of the month amid reports of extensive management restructuring at the telecommunications company.

He told The Tribune that while he did not want to specify whether or not he was asked to step down, it was “the right time to go”.

Mr Johnson said an announcement had not yet been made on his replacement; however, The Tribune understands the position is likely to be externally sourced.

Yesterday, Mr Johnson said: “I am moving on, I’m leaving at the end of the month, July 31. I had a fantastic time at BTC and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work for the company alongside such great and talented persons.”

Mr Johnson said that he did not have any immediate plans for future employment.

The resignation follows a July 9 internal e-mail to staff from BTC’s newly-appointed CEO Leon Williams.

According to Tribune Business, Mr Williams revealed a restructure that switches the management structure to one that is island/geographic-based, as opposed to function/job-based.

An internal memo announcing Mr Johnson’s resignation to staff was leaked on social media website Facebook last week.

The letter, which Mr Johnson yesterday confirmed he wrote, read: “I thought about the things we have accomplished and blazed trails on over the last seven plus years. The list is truly too long to list. I often tell my friends that I get far too much credit for the great things that the marketing division of BTC has accomplished.

“The accomplishments and the milestones we have reached are due to your imagination, your diligence, your hard work and your perseverance. The credit for everything that we have done belongs to you.

“As the company and the division settles into new leadership, there will be some disruption and some uncertainty,” Mr Johnson’s letter added. “But I admonish you all to stay focused and to continue to work hard for the company that has given much to all of us. I know that I haven’t been easy. And I am not very sentimental. But do know that I appreciate you and all that you have done and all that you do everyday. It has truly been the time of my life.”

In June, BTC announced that Geoff Houston, who served as CEO for the last three years, would step down and that Mr Williams was chosen as his successor as of June 30.

Mr Williams was previously CEO of BaTelCo – BTC in its former publicly owned guise – but was fired by the FNM administration six years ago and subsequently filed a suit against the government.

In 2011, he and the government reached an out-of-court settlement over the matter.