While we were on the topic of the BTL settlement, we took the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister about the position that the Belize Communication Workers Union has taken. 12 days ago, the union released a scathing public statement criticizing the Prime Minister and his Government for the nature of the settlement and the way the negotiations were conducted in private. They have suggested that the Prime Minister's actions are similar to Former Prime Minister Said Musa.
So, how did the Prime Minister take to such strong language? He said that he found the union's statement derogatory:
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I find it outrageously derogatory. But there is freedom of speech in this country and so the press release from that point of view was entitled to say what it did. It is my understanding that very many members of the staff at BTL took exception to that press release or certainly to the tone of the press release. I don't know how that kind of language got away from the union executive. Because it is absolutely reprehensible. Cannot be justified and regrettable. But it's there, it's part of the record, we have to move on. The managers, the board of directors at BTL must address the legitimate concerns of the workers and then we move on."
What about that explosive suggestion that he and Said Musa's Government did basically the same thing with secret negotiations about the fate of BTL and its ownership? The Prime Minister scoffed at one:
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"What the Musa administration did was to sign a secret accommodation agreement that absolutely gave away the store to the then owners of BTL, that obliged us to take tax payers money to subsidized the company in the event it didn't not make a guaranteed rate of return. What the Musa administration did before that was to preside over a saga that saw them sell first of all to the Ashcroft interest and then sell to the Prosser interest and then give back to the Ashcroft interest at a premium. How can that sort of sordid history be compared to what I and my government have now done, which is to settle the claim that saw the previous owners still attempting to get back the company which is then to place beyond any dispute or possibility of reconsideration. The ownership once and for all of that essential utility by the government and people of Belize - night and day difference."
BTL holds its annual general meeting tonight - and we'll have a full report on it tomorrow.
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