It was never the government's intention to regain control of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), according to former attorney general Sean McWeeney, who was one of the government's negotiators in the new deal announced last Wednesday by Prime Minister Perry Christie.
"And I challenge anyone to point to anything in the PLP's platform which indicated that," McWeeney said.
"As a matter of fact, I think the exact language in the platform, and I think this is available online, is that the government would seek to renegotiate the BTC deal, by all lawful means.
"So it was never a question of trying to confiscate the majority interest, and that of course had a constraining effect on the negotiations.
"We made it clear from the beginning that as a matter of state policy, we had absolutely no interest in forcing anyone to sell any interest they didn't want to sell.
"Expropriation is not now and has never been an instrument of state policy and will never be under this government.
"So the negotiations proceeded on the basis that we would have to arrive at a position that is mutually acceptable and that's exactly what happened at the end of the day. There was no gun put to anyone's head."
Christie announced on Wednesday that the "regaining of majority economic interest in BTC will not cost the government or the people of The Bahamas one single cent".
"On the contrary," the prime minister said, "the government has been able to amicably secure the return of the majority economic interest in BTC without having to pay anything for it, and I should add, without having to make any deals to get it done either."
Christie said there will be no extention of BTC's monopoly.
Asked about this "something for nothing" concept, McWeeney told National Review that it is actually quite simple.
"I think to the credit of Cable & Wireless, I think that they arrived at a position where they honestly thought that it would be in their own long-term economic interest to arrive at a position which would promote harmony with its partner, namely the government of The Bahamas" he said.
"I think they also saw that this would be a means by which they would develop greater goodwill with the Bahamian people because the placement of these shares in a foundation which would be dedicated solely to these social, civic and charitable purposes, is something clearly which is calculated to improve the standing of Cable & Wireless in the community.
"The fact [is they were] prepared to make a gift, a donation, of this kind, to the Bahamian people. So I think it made sense."
McWeeney also said there are some cynics who would say that the new deal between CWC and the government indicates that CWC "got more than what they should have gotten the first time around and perhaps they underpaid for it because if they are prepared to give away two percent that would tell you that perhaps they felt that they didn't pay enough the first time around".
McWeeney noted that the new agreement between the government and CWC comes on the eve of liberalization of the telecommunications market.
"They are about to go into a new era where the BTC monopoly is going to be gone and where they have to stand on their own two feet and compete head to head with some very formidable competition," he said.
McWeeney insisted that the government and its negotiations at no time threatened CWC to give up two percent of its shares.
"I think the only threat they feel is the looming competition which is going to come from new entrants in the telecommunications market," he added.
"I think based on the competitive experience they've had in the Caribbean, I think there is good reason for them to be concerned [about] competition from new entrants, but there is certainly no threat from the government."
NOT A PERFECT DEAL
McWeeney said the new agreement between the government and CWC "is the best obtainable deal in the circumstances".
"Is it a perfect deal? Of course it isn't, but I think in terms of what were the available options, I think that this really represents the best that was obtainable from a practical standpoint in the circumstances.
"And I think the bottom line is this, that the government and people of The Bahamas have moved from a position where they were getting only 49 percent of the economic rights, the fruits, if you will, of BTC to a position where they are going to get 51 percent.
"It will be 49 percent for Cable & Wireless, 49 percent for the government and the additional two percent is going to be held in trust for the Bahamian people in a foundation which will be controlled by the government's appointees.
"There is going to be three trustees of the foundation. All three trustees are going to be appointed by the government. It's a very important point.
"The other important point too is there are some cynics who are suggesting that all you're doing is moving one pocket to another, that Cable & Wireless through BTC is already making contributions to sports and civics and that sort of thing.
"That is going to continue, so that what you will have is increased financial resources being made available for those purposes because BTC is still going to be making contributions from BTC itself for sporting purposes, for civic purposes, for recreational purposes, and in addition to that, not in substitution, you're also going to have the income that is going to be flowing into the foundation by way of annual dividends, the proceeds of which will be used exclusively for the three purposes the prime minister identified."
Christie said the proceeds will be used to improve and expand the Bahamian people's access to, and enjoyment of, telecommunications technology throughout The Bahamas.
The proceeds will also be used to assist in the development of athletics and other sporting, recreational and civic activities in The Bahamas, and assist in the war against crime by expanding the use of CCTV and telecommunications technology.

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