A motion by Opposition Leader Robert Corbin calling for the National Assembly to suspend the decision to dispose of its 20 percent shareholding in GT&T until a cost/benefit review is done by a professional group was defeated two Thursdays ago.
Corbin argued that the Government should appoint an objective professional group to assess the cost/benefit of the sale versus the retention of these shares. He said that the country has benefited from the operations of the telephone company from the taxes and dividends paid to the government.
The Opposition Leader further argued that if the review by the body recommends that selling the shares is the best option, then workers of the company should be given the first option to buy them. Thereafter, a transparent process should be followed for the disposal of the shares not bought by the workers of the company. Corbin admitted that the value of the shares may be above that which the employees may be able to pay. He, however, suggested that in such cases the telephone company may be able to assist the employees in purchasing the shares.
PNCR MP Winston Murray said that the haste in which the government was trying to sell these shares suggested that there may be some ulterior motive for the government wanting to dispose of them. He said that the return that the government received on this particular investment was substantial and that there did not appear to be any alternative investment that would reap such high returns.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds in response said the funds that will be garnered from the sale of the shares will be used to benefit the information communication technology (ICT) sector. He said that the government had repeatedly stated its intention to provide more Guyanese with internet access and said that over time it hoped to have 80,000 households connected to the internet.
Hinds also said that the decision to sell shares was also forced upon the government. He explained that a previous attempt by the government to secure a loan to improve the ICT sector had been blocked by the majority shareholder in GT&T, thus hindering the government’s governmental plan.
Murray, in his presentation, argued that a fresh appeal could be made to one of the international loan agencies for help to fund the projects to improve the ICT sector.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh argued that there was no need for a cost/benefit review since the government was competent enough to conduct this exercise. He also argued that there was no sinister movement behind the proposed sale of the shares and said the money garnered from the sale would be used to develop the country.
Singh also noted that although the government has been receiving dividends from GT&T in recent years, ten years had elapsed before GT&T began paying the government any dividends. He indicated that during the period that the company was not paying the government, other entities were being paid by GT&T.
In May, Head of the Privatisation Unit Winston Brassington, following GT&T’s Annual General Meeting, had announced that the government was offering Atlantic Tele-Network (ATN), the majority shareholder of GT&T, the opportunity to buy the shares. The manner in which this was done, drew the ire of GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer Major General (ret’d) Joe Singh. The CEO, however, disclosed that ATN’S Chief Executive Officer Michael Prior had stated that the offer by government to sell its shares to ATN would have to be considered by the board of the company.
