Belizeans “Own BTL,” Espat Calls for Consultation

And while Minister Espat has made his opposition to the PUP Northern Caucus position clear, we also pressed him on another key issue, national consultations. Espat says he takes serious issue with the argument that the public does not need to be consulted simply because BTL is a private company, even with majority government ownership. He insists that Belizeans are the true owners of the company and, as such, deserve to be fully and meaningfully consulted before any decision is made.

 

Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development and Housing

“Consultation is never enough. I think there is a misconception that you have this privately publicly owned companies and they believe that they don’t have to consult with the Belizean people. That I have a serious problem with. We either own it or we don’t own it and we own it. And if we own it you have to come to us and ask our opinion. That is why Cabinet was reluctant in making a position because it was waiting for all the consultations to happen, including the media. The media is important in this. The concern that the media has to if you have a monopoly it will affect them in the future is something that has to addressed and has to be put in place before an agreement is done. And that we need competition, well from the day I was born that is what I believe in, having competition. And, the reason you have two telephone companies is because the concept of competition is there. So, I have listened to what BTL is saying and as a company any company wants a monopoly. Channel 7 would want it, Channel 5 would want it, Plus TV would want it, everybody in the business community would want a monopoly. But that does not mean it is in the best interest of the consumers. So we have to look at that also.”

 

Reporter

“You were present for the Cabinet meeting. You didn’t request for the prime minister to step aside for conflict of interest?”

 

Julius Espat

“He proposed and Cabinet decided it was not necessary. It was a Cabinet decision and I understand everybody’s point of view but the prime minister said that if we would want he would recuse himself and the majority of Cabinet decided it was not necessary.”