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Apr 23, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists
It is amazing how little a government tells its people and when they do speak, one must wonder how much is the truth. The sale of the 20 per cent shares that the government once held in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company is a classical case.
When back in 2012 the Donald Ramotar government announced that it was selling the 20 per cent shares that the previous government had retained in the telephone company, there was some consternation. For one, the national coffers were getting a steady inflow of cash. It would have had to be a very bad year for the dividends to be lower than US$2.5 million.
Therefore, when the government announced the sale of the shares the query was ‘Why?” There was of course the refusal by the government to sell the shares to the employees of the telephone company. There was the speculation that the government was desperate for money to fund the construction of the Marriott Hotel.
This was a project that was thought to be unnecessary, especially since it was the view of many that the government was attempting to hurt Robert Badal, the owner of the Pegasus Hotel.
In the end the shares were sold. Certainly, the government did not attempt to sell them on the local market so there were no advertisements, locally. In fact, the nation was not aware that the shares were advertised. It was not until Winston Brassington, the head of the National Industrial Commercial and Investment Limited (NICIL), reported to the press that the nation realized that the shares were sold for US$30 million.
Forget the disappointment, because the nation would have got that sum and more over a 10-year period. And after that period it would have continued to receive the dividends. But look at the foolish nature of the trade. The shares are sold on credit. That just does not happen in the real world. Payments could be made over a period, but if that is the case, the government would maintain a hold on its assets until full payment is made.
Guyana did no such thing, so it is now forced to go running after the remainder of the money it anticipated from the sale of the GTT shares. The government did not hide the fact that its payment was US$5 million short. The national leaders used that fact to let the nation know that it was transparent in its every deal.
Now that the government has been changed we are suddenly finding out that there was more to the sale than the nation could have imagined. The Head of NICIL told the nation that the shares were sold to a Chinese Company, Datang. Immediately the news was reported, the local media found that Datang was a banned company and was suspected of electronic spying on a large scale. The United States made this allegation.
The nation accepted the facts that the shares were sold to a company of questionable reputation. It would not seem that the shares were not sold to Datang at all. Donald Ramotar, the president of Guyana at the time of the sale announced that the shares were sold to Hong Kong Golden Telecom Company Ltd.
Why did Datang not deny buying the sale if it did not? Perhaps it is as former President Bharrat Jagdeo said, Chinese companies have many names. But that could not be the case. Donald Ramotar never sought to correct the announcement by Brassington, who can only now be accused of misleading the nation.
But then again, since Guyana must have wanted the money, desperately to complete the Marriott, there must have been a lot of collusion between Datang and Hong Kong Golden Telecom. The nation is now scratching its head. Why did Minister of State Joseph Harmon go to meet with the buyer of the shares in China when he must have seen records that suggested that the shares were sold to Hong Kong Golden Telecom Company? He surely did not do his research, but we doubt it. Then again, he never said that he went to a meeting with Datang.
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