And while the words of Labour Senator and BTL employee Paul Perriot
were the most poignant, everyone was waiting to hear what Senator Godwin Hulse
had to say because yesterday evening the Chamber of Commerce issued a statement
saying, "The intended nationalization of our major telecommunication
provider or any other company sets an alarming precedent.....For an action of
such magnitude...the BCCI requests the government to delay the process in order
to provide an opportunity for consultation with the business community ..."
And no, they're not kidding. Tellingly, the Chamber
had nothing to say about the revelation that, as it stood, the telecommunications
industry was a sham, with Ashcroft-affiliated interests controlling the majority
shareholdings in both BTL and SMART. Also the Chamber had nothing adverse to
say about the accommodation agreement which flouted the authority of the Pubic
Utilities Commission...but to the Chamber, the BTL acquisition is what's
alarming. Good one. Or not so good...business senator Hulse told us why he wasn't
convinced.
Jules Vasquez,
"You are in favour of this legislation, how do you square that with the
fact that the Chamber of Commerce issued a release yesterday saying that they
are alarmed at it and they view it with a great deal of trepidation for the
investment climate?"
Senator Godwin Hulse,
"A good question Jules and thanks for asking. First of all I stand
in lone right in the Senate even though I am representing the business community
and as I said in the Senate I would have had no problem denouncing the legislation
and its intended purpose if the private sector entity we were dealing with was
squeaky clean. In other words it doesn't matter, the issue is not the
benefits that they purport to have derived from some agreement or otherwise
which has us in this litigation process. It is how it was arrived at and it
is a big institution, filled with corporate attorneys who know the ropes inside
and out and they know that it was illegal, that is the first thing. Second thing,
I am the only singly named individual in a litigation against the Accommodation
Agreement. There is the ACB and Godwin Hulse and so that is my position from
day one.
My problem with the Bill however is that it is all encompassing, it is
too wide, it captures all utility providers. I could have simply demanded it
stayed in the committee but I understand the urgency so I have requested an
amendment to the bill so the other public utilities providers are not nervous
and I listed all of them; electricity, water and all the other ones like BELCOGEN
on which I sit as a board remember. So that is of concern to me.
Also, of concern is the fact that it talks about possession without the
details of what that entails so if in the future they come up with five or six
other telecom providers they could be nervous that suppose this happens to me.
You have to spell out exactly what you mean and that needs to happen in another
Bill or an SI. But the most fundamental thing to my mind is to ensure that in
the future, government cannot do what it did. We must understand that BTL could
be looked at as in a way by some the victim. They were just beneficiaries as
any businessman of a runaway government. We elected a government to protect
and preserve our interests and they are the ones who should have held on to
the legislation, they are the ones who should have maintained none of this happened
and they did not and so to even license a way our jurisdiction to a foreign
arbitration council, almost a court, is inexcusable.
So with all those things it is hard to stand up behind BTL and say poor
BTL."
Marion Ali, News 5
"Should corporate companies be in anyway alarmed or concerned that the
government can on any one day walk in and take over your place if they don't
agree with what you're doing?"
Senator Godwin Hulse,
"I don't think they should be alarmed quite frankly. That would
be overreacting. There are lots of remedies in law, there are lots of things
that one can do. The government has said public interest and public interest
involves a fantastic consolidated fund debt that you are saddling the public
with to pay. This public is sick and tired of paying and paying and paying for
what we don't get. I think all of you are sick and tired of it. I certainly
am. I have lambasted the superbond for ever and I think that now we have a $38
million with BTL, there are threats of additional money for what, while we are
not collecting any taxes.
Please man, every company in this country has a legitimate responsibility
to pay their taxes. Everybody has to step up to the plate. If it was a case
that you are doing expansion and you need some relief, fair enough, go for an
extended concession, the public might be outraged but go get it and do it through
an SI. Don't do it through a sneaky agreement and finally use that sneaky
agreement to create a vesting act to create a whole new company is painful.
I stood up against it then, I stood up in 2001 against the amendment and I'll
stand up now against it."
Email
Print