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For months, the secret accommodation agreement that the past government signed with BTL has been a matter of speculation and inquiry. But because of a secrecy clause, the press or the public hadn’t seen it. In fact when the barrow administration was elected, there wasn’t even a copy to be found anywhere in the government. Now that’s top secret! But now government has gotten a copy of the agreement from BTL – and with the outlawing of secrecy clauses in the amended Freedom of Information Act, it was released yesterday. We got it this afternoon, and here’s some of what we found.

Jules Vasquez Reporting,
This is the accommodation agreement. The principal document is 31 pages and is built around this, government’s agreement to cover its Intelco losses by selling 4 former Intelco properties to BTL for $19.2 million.

Government also agreed to a 15% minimum rate of return for BTL – and according to schedule 2, that minimum return must be calculated to include, quote “any assets acquired...by BTL in the performance of this agreement.” So that means the $19.2 million used to cover Government’s Intelco exposure, is to be paid by you the ratepayer, in your phone bill.

And article 11.4 is where all the current problems begin. It notes that in the event that BTL fails to achieve its minimum rate of return, the government has to compensate BTL – and if that isn’t paid in full by a specified deadline, then the shortfall “can be set off by BTL against the amount of any taxes including business tax, sales tax or other taxes” payable by BTL to government.

But that’s not all the agreement does. There are also 10 other undertakings that make blanket giveaways and concessions to BTL, including government’s undertaking that only BTL and Speednet – which is SMART can operate as phone companies in Belize for a period of 15 years. As regards Voice over internet, Government undertook for a period of 15 years that no class license holder is permitted to use voice over internet known as VOIP technology.

And there it is signed in secret by the Prime minister and the BTL Chairman Keith Arnold 19TH September 2005.

Among many other things, it’s also noteworthy that the 2005 accommodation agreement foresees and has government agreeing to the Vesting Bill of 2007. The accommodation agreement is accompanied by four settlement deeds – agreeing to various tax compensations for shortfalls in the rate of return. For government, those are signed by the then Prime Minister Said Musa and witnessed by his Attorney General Francis Fonseca – the last one signed a month before the election. According to BTL, the amount not realized under the agreed rate of return agreement is $13 million.