"But in that coming day, no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you."
- Isaiah 54:17
This past week, Phil Bentley, chief executive officer of Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), announced that Mr. Leon Williams will become the new chief executive officer at BTC, formerly the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BaTelCo). This was the government's most lucrative public corporation, which for many years had not only paid vast dividends to the government but had developed a world-class telecommunications organization that was literally built with the blood, sweat and tears of and managed by Bahamians. For more than a decade, BTC was at the center of discussion and debate about the propriety of its privatization.
During the privatization process, Williams, then president of BaTelCo, was fired by the corporation's board, without cause, although it was later determined that it was because he opposed privatization of the corporation. Therefore this week, we would like to Consider this... With his re-instatement as the CEO of the now privatized BTC, has Mr. Williams been vindicated?
The background
In the 1990s, the Ingraham administration decided to privatize BaTelCo. This decision was met with vehement disapproval by a deeply divided, broad-based cross-section of the citizenry, particularly when that administration decided to sell a majority share of the corporation to a foreign strategic partner, Cable & Wireless Communications. That decision was even more controversial and offensive because of the Ingraham administration's "resolute" position early in the process that Cable & Wireless should not even be considered by the privatization committee as a strategic partner.
In 2008, Mr. Williams was fired as the corporation's president by the board, notwithstanding that during his tenure BaTelCo had implemented cutting edge telecommunications technology, and consumers, while not completely satisfied, were generally pleased with the company's performance. In addition, Mr. Williams was twice elected by acclamation as the chairman of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO), which at the time of his election was comprised of telecommunications organizations from 33 countries. At the time Williams demitted office two years later, CANTO members numbered 116 telecommunications organizations from 72 countries. Clearly, he was highly respected by his international telecommunication colleagues.
However, Mr. Williams was not satisfied with the direction that the board had taken in its move toward privatization. The chairman of the board at the time said that Mr. Williams was terminated for gross mismanagement of the corporation, although the performance indicators did not support such a claim. Before he assumed the presidency of BaTelCo in 2006, the corporation recorded sales of $293 million, operating profits of $34 million and had $70 million cash in the bank. By the time he was terminated in 2008, BaTelCo had increased sales to $353 million, and recorded operating profits of $44 million and had $170 million cash in the bank. At the same time, the corporation had 300,000 customers and had reduced rates for both land-line and cellular service.
Following his termination by an FNM-appointed board, Mr. Williams sued the corporation for unfair dismissal. The corporation ultimately settled with him, resulting in a vindication of the injustice that the board had meted out to him.
Cable & Wireless' performance
Shortly after Cable & Wireless acquired the controlling interest in BTC (the privatized corporation), it became patently clear to all consumers that the executives at the helm of the company did not enjoy the confidence they had developed with the earlier public corporation. Notwithstanding their vast telecommunications experience and financial resources, both landline and cellular telephone service rapidly deteriorated. There was a new level of customer dissatisfaction, resulting from incessantly dropped calls, especially in its cellular service, and the corporation's staff morale reached historically unprecedented depths never before experienced. Bahamians and residents alike deeply lamented the day that the Ingraham administration effectively "gave away" the country's most precious and valuable national asset and regretfully reminisced about the years gone-by when BaTelCo was owned and managed by Bahamians.
To add insult to injury, the corporation made several critically significant personnel changes that resulted in the replacement of qualified, trained Bahamians with foreign surrogates who could not deliver the quality service levels to which customers had become accustomed. In addition, it "persuaded" many qualified persons to take an early retirement package. After privatization, the person who was appointed by CWC to head the new BTC had come from a CWC post in Jamaica where CWC Jamaica had posted net losses of three billion Jamaican dollars for the preceding three years.
In these last two years, there were three catastrophic failures of the telecommunications system where many of the country's land-line and mobile services simultaneously and completely collapsed. The last systemic national meltdown several months ago saw a public apology from BTC including an announcement that there would be a minuscule monetary compensation to customers for the system collapse.
Hence, there was a collective sigh of relief when Mr. Bentley announced that he had decided to reinstate Mr. Williams. Mr. Bentley's announcement was met with near universal euphoria by the public and employees of the corporation, including the union leaders who had developed an excellent relationship with and deep respect for Mr. Williams while he served as president.
The opposition's reaction to Williams' appointment
It should come as no surprise that the announcement of Mr. Williams' reinstatement was met with discordant disdain by the official opposition who described his return as a "step backward". Not surprising at all from a party whose initial position was that "Bahamians need not apply" for the purchase of the corporation during the privatization process. Not surprising at all from a party that had long demonstrated that it did not have confidence in Bahamians, despite the appalling performance by the corporation's foreign managers. In other words, The Bahamas would be better served by foreigners whose performance was dismal at best and appalling at worse than by an exceptionally more competent Bahamian who has demonstrated that he can perform exponentially better than his foreign counterparts. Suffice it to say that Mr. Bentley, as chairman, wanted the best for his company, notwithstanding the vociferous protests of the official opposition. For this, Mr. Bentley should be commended by all right-thinking Bahamians.
Mr. Williams and the road ahead
This is not to suggest that we should expect an immediately miraculous transformation of the corporation with Mr. Williams at the helm. There are no "quick-fix" solutions to the entrenched challenges that need to be immediately addressed. Mr. Williams will probably be the first to admonish Bahamians that it will take time to reverse the missteps and mistakes of his predecessors. Above all, it will require a commitment by CWC to make the necessary capital improvements in the system and time to identify the right persons to fill the essential positions at BTC. As Mr. Williams has pointed out, correcting the problems that face BTC is like "fixing a plane while it is in flight".
Conclusion
When all is said and done, it is ironic that, although Mr. Williams was vilified by the former BTC board for his position on the corporation's privatization, and now even by some in the opposition, he will now captain the privatized BTC. He can certainly take comfort in the words of the Prophet Isaiah that: "...in that coming day, no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and this is their vindication from me."
It now remains for all Bahamians to recognize that Mr. Williams, who once led the corporation to unparalleled heights, now enjoys the confidence of its chairman, Mr. Bentley. We should demonstrate the same level of confidence and support him because, if he succeeds, as we are confident that he will, we will all be the beneficiaries of his success.
o Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

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