What is the whole truth behind Bluewater?
tribune242 editorial
AFTER a 14-year search for a suitable strategic partner and a lengthy, often acrimonious debate over the past few days, BTC opens its doors today as a privately owned company. Cable & Wireless, with a sound international reputation and solid financing is the new owner. Bluewater Ventures Ltd, the choice of the PLP government, is now history leaving a trail of mystery in its wake.
When one examines details of the bids that were published, it is difficult to understand why Bluewater -- the only company not to produce financials -- was the PLP government's company of choice. Many things have been suggested. Finance Minister Zhivargo Laing considered it a "fronting" operation with Bahamians hidden in the background. Whatever it was, all that has been made public -- and much is still hidden-- suggests that it was a company hastily thrown together especially for this bidding process.
At the end of a heated exchange between Opposition leader Perry Christie, whose government pushed the Bluewater deal to a hasty conclusion, and Prime Minister Ingraham who eliminated Bluewater, Mr Ingraham accepted that Mr Christie's last gesture before he left office "was beneficial to the Bahamas."
As he put out the embers of his dying government, Mr Christie took up his pen and ended the Bluewater deal.
"I would recommend," he wrote, "that the matter not proceed any further at this time."
Mr Christie argued that as his government had been voted out of office, it was only right that the final decision on the future of BTC be left for the new government.
Reading from the records on Monday, April 30, 2007 --two days before the general election -- Mr Ingraham said the PLP Cabinet met with Prime Minister Christie's approval. Mr Christie himself was absent, and so the deputy prime minister was in the chair. Mr Obie Wilchcombe was also absent from that meeting. It was at that meeting that the decision was made to sell BTC to Bluewater.
When asked by a House member what he knew about the Bluewater transaction, Mr Ingraham said he knew of a meeting also held at the Ministry of Finance when then Minister Bradley Roberts, "Brave" Davis, lawyer for Bluewater, and a "man from Bluewater" returned to the room and said "we have a deal."
Mr Ingraham said that before the 2007 election he had announced at an FNM rally that the PLP government had sold what was then BaTelCo to Bluewater. His speculation was that at the end "they ran scared," which caused the last minute change of mind.
As our readers will recall the hand-over in 2007 from one government to the next did not go smoothly. Although the FNM became the government on May 2, it was not until May 4th that it was able to assume office.
In the meantime several ministers of the former PLP government, said Mr Ingraham, went around announcing that the Bluewater deal had been approved and recommended that the persons involved should go to the Cabinet office to get "the letter."
By then the Ingraham government was in charge. Mr Ingraham said that the Secretary to the Cabinet came to him one day to inform him that "some people" were at the office saying that they wanted "the letter" -- obviously the letter approving the sale of BaTelCo to Bluewater.
Mr Ingraham thanked Mr Christie for going to London to testify at the hearing when Bluewater was demanding to be indemnified for the loss of BaTelCo. In Bluewater's agreement with the PLP, the Ingraham government would have had to pay $2.5 million if the exclusivity clause in the agreement had been breached. To get out of the Bluewater deal, the $2.5 million penalty clause was negotiated down to $1.9 million.
Mr Ingraham argued that although Mr Christie did not attend the Cabinet meeting that approved the sale of BaTelCo to Bluewater, the fact that he had given Cabinet members permission to meet, and agreed who should chair the meeting, he could not then unilaterally rescind their decision without another meeting and discussion. Mr Christie argued that he did not change the deal, but decided that his government was at an end and suspended it.
Mr Ingraham knows, said an angered Opposition leader, that "this was a process that I was going to guarantee the integrity of -- if only because Brave Davis was the lawyer -- I was not going to allow this matter to compromise the integrity of my government under no circumstances."
In a heated moment, Mr Christie probably suggested more than he intended. Obviously, he was not happy with the deal. His behaviour at the end shows a great deal of doubt. Already he had started the hand washing process.
Bluewater was a deal made on behalf of the Bahamian people. They are entitled to know the facts -- especially why Bluewater was given so many preferential concessions.
We feel it the duty of the Ingraham government to lay the whole Bluewater transaction on the table of the House so that it will be available for public scrutiny.
March 28, 2011
tribune242 editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
Showing posts with label BTC future. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BTC future. Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) cries shame on The Bahamas government for accepting an offer that is clearly below market value for the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC)
BTC political row worsens
By CANDIA DAMES
The Nassau Guardian News Editor
candia@nasguard.com
Parties hit out over $210M deal
The sparring over the government’s decision to sell 51 percent of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) has intensified, with the two major political parties arguing over whether the majority of Bahamians support the deal.
The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) said yesterday that its parliamentary caucus has embarked on a thorough and comprehensive review of the BTC and CWC transaction, and will be releasing regular positions on each component of the transaction.
“The PLP has clear and unequivocal objections to the commercial terms of this transaction, and more specifically the purchase price and consideration the government, and the Bahamian people, will realize from the sale of this prized national asset,” the party said in a statement.
The government has agreed to sell 51 percent of the shares of BTC to CWC for $210 million plus taxes.
“However, when one looks more closely at the terms of the transaction as set out in the share purchase agreement, it is clear The Bahamas government is receiving far less than $210 million, and it is equally clear that whatever the government eventually receives is far less than the value of 51 percent of BTC,” the PLP claimed.
“The Bahamas government is obligated to leave at least $15 million in cash in the company. Furthermore, The Bahamas government is obligated to fund pension liabilities in the amount of $39 million. Taking into account these obligations of the Bahamian government, the most the government will receive is $156 million for 51 percent of BTC.
“The PLP objects to this and cries shame on the government for accepting an offer that is clearly below market value for BTC. In fact, the Financial Times pointed out that the $210 million purchase price was below the industry average; certainly $156 million is significantly below market price for 51 percent of BTC.”
Meanwhile, an argument has intensified over the level of support the government has on the privatization issue.
An earlier statement released by Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder on behalf of the PLP said the party takes exception to the Free National Movement’s practice of “misleading the Bahamian public on the support for the BTC sale to Cable and Wireless.”
“The PLP proposes that the majority of Bahamians are against this specific sale of BTC. The PLP has committed itself to a series of statements and position pieces that will clearly note our objections to the BTC sale, focused on different objections,” Pinder said.
“The PLP is also committed in these releases to educating Bahamians as to the shortfalls of this proposed sale of BTC. The PLP demands that the FNM be honest and straightforward with the Bahamian people on this give away of the people's asset, BTC.”
But the FNM shot back in a statement last night, saying as support for the opposition’s position on the partnership to create a new BTC with Cable and Wireless continues to erode, it has begun to panic and continues to ignore the voices of the majority of Bahamians.
“The opposition says that it ‘proposes that the majority of Bahamians are against this specific sale of BTC’. Rather than proposing, the FNM has taken note of two surveys over the past two weeks which have shown the surge of support for the creation of a new BTC. One survey was conducted by a private group (Consumer Voices Bahamas) the other by one of the dailies,” the FNM said.
The FNM noted that in The Nassau Guardian’s online survey 4,563 people responded. The question was whether respondents supported the PLP’s decision to reject the deal.
“It appears that the voices of these thousands of Bahamians and many others are of no consequence to the PLP, which now seeks to substitute its own faltering position for that of the majority of Bahamians,” the FNM said.
But Pinder said in his statement that a previous FNM release and associated polls “misrepresented” the views of Bahamians.
“The unscientific polls focused on whether privatization was a good idea, and not [the] real issue that concerns the majority of Bahamians, which is whether this sale to Cable and Wireless under the proposed terms tabled in the House of Assembly last week is a good deal,” he said.
The FNM insisted however that support for the deal continues to grow among Bahamians.
“We believe that after the House of Assembly debate on BTC’s future, that many more Bahamians will support the new partnership, as misinformation and incorrect information are countered with the facts, which will shed more light on the fiction promoted by certain narrow interests,” the FNM said.
2/16/2011
thenassauguardian
By CANDIA DAMES
The Nassau Guardian News Editor
candia@nasguard.com
Parties hit out over $210M deal
The sparring over the government’s decision to sell 51 percent of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) to Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) has intensified, with the two major political parties arguing over whether the majority of Bahamians support the deal.
The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) said yesterday that its parliamentary caucus has embarked on a thorough and comprehensive review of the BTC and CWC transaction, and will be releasing regular positions on each component of the transaction.
“The PLP has clear and unequivocal objections to the commercial terms of this transaction, and more specifically the purchase price and consideration the government, and the Bahamian people, will realize from the sale of this prized national asset,” the party said in a statement.
The government has agreed to sell 51 percent of the shares of BTC to CWC for $210 million plus taxes.
“However, when one looks more closely at the terms of the transaction as set out in the share purchase agreement, it is clear The Bahamas government is receiving far less than $210 million, and it is equally clear that whatever the government eventually receives is far less than the value of 51 percent of BTC,” the PLP claimed.
“The Bahamas government is obligated to leave at least $15 million in cash in the company. Furthermore, The Bahamas government is obligated to fund pension liabilities in the amount of $39 million. Taking into account these obligations of the Bahamian government, the most the government will receive is $156 million for 51 percent of BTC.
“The PLP objects to this and cries shame on the government for accepting an offer that is clearly below market value for BTC. In fact, the Financial Times pointed out that the $210 million purchase price was below the industry average; certainly $156 million is significantly below market price for 51 percent of BTC.”
Meanwhile, an argument has intensified over the level of support the government has on the privatization issue.
An earlier statement released by Elizabeth MP Ryan Pinder on behalf of the PLP said the party takes exception to the Free National Movement’s practice of “misleading the Bahamian public on the support for the BTC sale to Cable and Wireless.”
“The PLP proposes that the majority of Bahamians are against this specific sale of BTC. The PLP has committed itself to a series of statements and position pieces that will clearly note our objections to the BTC sale, focused on different objections,” Pinder said.
“The PLP is also committed in these releases to educating Bahamians as to the shortfalls of this proposed sale of BTC. The PLP demands that the FNM be honest and straightforward with the Bahamian people on this give away of the people's asset, BTC.”
But the FNM shot back in a statement last night, saying as support for the opposition’s position on the partnership to create a new BTC with Cable and Wireless continues to erode, it has begun to panic and continues to ignore the voices of the majority of Bahamians.
“The opposition says that it ‘proposes that the majority of Bahamians are against this specific sale of BTC’. Rather than proposing, the FNM has taken note of two surveys over the past two weeks which have shown the surge of support for the creation of a new BTC. One survey was conducted by a private group (Consumer Voices Bahamas) the other by one of the dailies,” the FNM said.
The FNM noted that in The Nassau Guardian’s online survey 4,563 people responded. The question was whether respondents supported the PLP’s decision to reject the deal.
“It appears that the voices of these thousands of Bahamians and many others are of no consequence to the PLP, which now seeks to substitute its own faltering position for that of the majority of Bahamians,” the FNM said.
But Pinder said in his statement that a previous FNM release and associated polls “misrepresented” the views of Bahamians.
“The unscientific polls focused on whether privatization was a good idea, and not [the] real issue that concerns the majority of Bahamians, which is whether this sale to Cable and Wireless under the proposed terms tabled in the House of Assembly last week is a good deal,” he said.
The FNM insisted however that support for the deal continues to grow among Bahamians.
“We believe that after the House of Assembly debate on BTC’s future, that many more Bahamians will support the new partnership, as misinformation and incorrect information are countered with the facts, which will shed more light on the fiction promoted by certain narrow interests,” the FNM said.
2/16/2011
thenassauguardian
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