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Govt. defends intended sale of shares in GT&T

Jul 10, 2009 News

The Office of the President yesterday in a statement to the media said that it views with surprise the statement made by the Leader of the Opposition, Robert Corbin, regarding his party’s reaction to the offer of the Government of Guyana to dispose of its minority 20 per cent shareholding in Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T).
The statement pointed out that officially, the PNCR has not taken a public position on whether it supports the expressed intention of the Government to liberalize the Telecommunications Sector.
“The administration hopes that there can be no reluctance by the PNCR to identify with the reasoning that led to the decision to liberalize the sector, reasons that include the ability to exploit the social and economic benefits of ICT, benefits that are clearly hamstrung today by the Guyanese/ GT&T licence agreement of 1991, an agreement that was entered into by the then PNCR in Government.”

According to the Office of the President, the silence of the PNCR on the matter can only be interpreted as a lack of concern for the citizens of Guyana that would benefit from liberalization or it could reflect some consideration on the part of the PNCR for the electoral support mooted to have been provided to the party in their repetitive and futile electoral bids since 1992.
OP noted that available records would support the decision of the Government to dispose of the shares as financial returns are miserably poor based on the dividend payment received over time.
It was pointed out that since 1991, the minority shareholder received zero dividend payment until the year 2000 and since then the annual amount has fluctuated from US$1M to US$4M, while the company has been reporting skyrocketing profits over the same time.
OP added, that to support the decision to dispose of the minority shareholding has been the fact that the shareholder has consistently been prevented from exercising any influence whatsoever on the affairs of the company.

“Maybe, the views of the PNCR are a reflection of their shenanigans with the privatization of Guyana Telecommunication Corporation (GTC) and their fears those shenanigans might be disclosed…The PNCR must know that they cannot have their selective way in dealing with such issues…They support privatisation some of the time and with other sectors are strangely silent and non-committal…Someone has to encourage Mr. Corbin to the fact that there are more pressing issues to investigate that are closer to his home and party, investigations for which he may garner some of the critical support that he seems to need today.”
Corbin is currently questioning the rationale behind the government’s decision to sell its 20 per cent shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.

Corbin said that it is questionable that the government, especially in the current economic downturn, globally, would want to sell a source of significant revenue.
According to Corbin, one such reason could very well be that it is resorting to transactions aimed at benefiting friends and would be engaging in deals that would not be transparent.
The PNCR and main Opposition Leader did say that the party was going to undertake an investigation as to why the Government would want to sell a source of a revenue earner.
On May 7, last, it was announced that government has offered to sell its 20 percent shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.

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