Minister Kareem Musa Says BTL Acquisition Plan Has Not Reached Cabinet

Minister Kareem Musa has echoed comments made earlier by Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca, confirming that the proposed plan for Belize Telemedia Limited, BTL, to acquire SMART and three cable television companies has not yet reached Cabinet.  The clarification comes amid growing unease within government over how the proposed consolidation has been unfolding. Love News understands that the issue has caused upset within Cabinet, with unverified information indicating that several Cabinet ministers were planning to meet privately this week in protest over being excluded from discussions surrounding the proposed acquisitions.  Given Musa’s portfolio, particularly his responsibility for governance and labour, one would reasonably surmise that he would have been placed in the loop on a matter of this scale involving a state-owned company and significant governance considerations. However, it is Love News’ understanding that this was not the case.  Speaking to reporters today, Minister Musa stressed the importance of clear communication, emphasizing that Cabinet operates on the principle of collective responsibility and that major policy initiatives must be properly discussed at the Cabinet level before any direction is taken.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration: “Not at the cabinet level, I haven’t been briefed on it, but I have been paying attention to it. Obviously, it’s something that has been intensely scrutinized, so to speak, not just by the media but also by civil society. And I was able to see some of the remarks made at the press conference last week. So, in terms of the nuts and bolts, we have not been briefed on that but it is expected that at tomorrow’s cabinet this will be a matter for discussion. I’ve heard the remarks of the chairman of BTL saying that it’s a private company but as you rightly pointed out, it is a government-owned private company. And so I believe that we should be very upfront in terms of the information not just the cabinet but to the wider public in terms of disclosure, in terms of all of the nuts and bolts. This is a very significant merger, a significant acquisition. I believe a total of $170 million and so there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and so I think that publicly presenting that to get the buy in from the public is vital.”

Reporter: And you believe that there is a perceived conflict of interest though with the ownership of the company’s BTL? 

Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration: “I wouldn’t say so and I wouldn’t want to speculate on that. I have seen the Prime Minister on numerous occasions actually say that he’s not an owner of the company. His family owns the company, I believe, Centaur and has shares in Speednet. And so the Prime Minister has actually recused himself in terms of discussing this matter. And so, but that is not to say that his family does have an interest in it. I believe his brother Jaime and his cousin have an interest in the companies. Like other members of the board, I have questions. I am not at all familiar with the details of the acquisition aside from the global sum what it’s going to cost for the cable companies and for Speednet. And so there are a lot of questions, especially in the advent of technology and innovation and international competition that I believe our forecasting has to consider. And I’m speaking specifically about Starlink at this point, but it might be something in addition to Starlink in the coming years. And so all of these are factors that we need to consider when making a decision. So again, it is my hope that those questions can be answered.”

Reporter: Your initial reaction to Centaur and CTI seemingly pulling out of this deal? 
Kareem Musa, Minister of Immigration: “Well, from what I understand, they are not pulling out because of the details of the transaction. They believe and BTL believes it’s a good transaction for the benefit of BTL and for the benefit of Belize. I believe it is more because of the reputational burdens. I believe that’s what is referred to in the letter and so that doesn’t say anything about the transaction itself, the merits or demerits of it. And so that is what they have provided in their release.”