Former Prime Minister Dean Barrow weighs in on the BTL proposal

In addition to weighing in on the political aspect of the acquisition should it be pursued, former Prime Minister Dean Barrow also gave his views on the proposed deal.  While he is not against a monopoly, he did outline why this particular deal raises red flags.  Outlining several factors, Barrow explained why the proposed BTL acquisition of SMART remains a difficult sell to the Belizean public.  He pointed to three key factors, including what he described as the close association between Prime Minister John Briceño and Speednet SMART, which he says complicates public perception and trust around the transaction.

Rt.Hon.Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister: “This idea. This plan, this decision is wrong inherently and it is the error of coming up with this notion is compounded by the fact of the way the “public relations”, the way the public relations is being handled by BTL and by the government as the majority owners of BTL. Why do I say that the project in and of itself is bad for BTL and bad for Belize ? Number one because it certainly can’t pass the smell test. The fact that the Prime Minister’s family is a substantial shareholder in Smart /Speednet which BTL is proposing to buy right away raises the issue of a huge conflict of interest. That weights particularly heavily on their insistence on going forward because merits apart public opinion is incensed simply because of the fact that the Prime Minister’s family stands to benefit from this deal. I don’t know the details and so perhaps I’m speaking from what I suspect has to be the case but it seems pretty clear that Speednet is not exactly doing wonderfully well. The question of why they would want to sell and why BTL would want to buy then looms large. There is as well the absence of information in so far as the public is concerned. There is no real transparency. People can’t be given any convincing reason as to why BTL will benefit from the sale at all. And certainly, if you get past that first hurdle, no information is being shared with the public in terms of the valuation of Speednet, what it is that BTL will be paying and how, even from the point of view of the numbers, this is any kind of a deal for BTL. In the round, I can’t no matter how hard I try, see that this is of benefit to BTL. I think it’s going to be a burden, except if we are given access to information that shows that BTL is getting this for a song, and I’m sure that’s not the case. The figures I’ve heard that’s not a song. But I am saying that in the long term, in the longer term, I don’t even know that BTL should want Speednet even if they’re being given it for free. But this is very serious business. One wants to examine it from every conceivable angle. One wants to be fair, if that’s at all possible to the government and to the current BTL board, but at the end of the day, for all the reasons that I have tried to enumerate, I think this is a sorry deal.”

Barrow also raised concerns about the practicality and cost of the proposed purchase. He suggested that the acquisition may be overpriced, arguing that BTL is capable of succeeding and expanding its operations without acquiring SMART.  According to Barrow, government must carefully assess whether the benefits of such a purchase truly outweigh the financial and political risks involved.

Rt.Hon.Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister: “In terms of the way telecommunications is moving. I don’t see how BTL will have a difficulty keeping up period, regardless of anything else. And I don’t see how buying Speednet, which is not exactly a prize, which is not exactly a catch objective speaking, I don’t see how buying Speednet confers any special advantage on BTL or as it were increases BTL’s technical capacity, adds to its equipment stock. Anyway you slice it on the face of it it’s hard to recognize any benefit, any qualitative benefit that detail will get. So when you start to hear about Starlink, when you start to hear about all these satellites, when you start to hear about what people like Elon Musk will be doing. How does BTL burdening itself with this other company, because again we don’t know when it takes on Speednet, does it assume the debt? There is this dirth of information, but no matter what they tell you, how will buying Speednet/Smart help BTL to become more efficient, to in fact be able to show a more effective footprint, even though, and how will that being weighed down with the additional burden of having to to deal with Speednet and its employees and all that, how will that help BTL to prepare for the future? Where the telecommunications landscape is changing so very rapidly and we’re talking about sea changes that are taking place and that will inundate us and overwhelm us, overtake us in a few. So as I’m talking to you I’m trying to see how it is perhaps I am not being as far seeing as I should and maybe not, maybe missing the advantages that certainly the detailed board of directors or chairman would have you believe attached to this deal.”

We will have more from our interview with former Prime Minister Dean Barrow in tomorrow night’s newscast, including his take on the Tracy Panton meeting with Lord Michael Ashcroft./