No timetable was set for memorandum on agreements -govt
The government yesterday denied that a timetable had been set for the presentation of a memorandum of understanding to reflect areas of agreement reached with the local phone company to break its monopoly and introduce market reforms in the information and communications sector.
The government said Atlantic Tele Network (ATN) chairman, Cornelius Prior, was being less than honourable and displayed further evidence of bad faith in claiming that the negotiations between the two sides had "stopped dead in their tracks" after the teams returned from Trinidad several weeks ago.
"Informally, the GT&T [Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Ltd] management had indicated to the government negotiators that they would not be available to resume negotiations until June and after June, not until September," a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said yesterday, in response to statements by Prior at a media briefing on Monday.
Prior, at the media briefing, defended his company's right to protect its interest even to the extent of lobbying against a developmental project for Guyana, claiming that a lack of faith and trust in the government as a negotiator had caused the firm to adopt the position it took.
ATN has lobbied the US executive director at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) against a US$18 million loan for a US$22.5 million Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project for Guyana on the grounds that the project infringed upon its monopoly rights on national and international data transmission.
Prior revealed at the briefing that agreements were reached during the intense negotiations with the government, on ATN immediately giving up the monopoly on data transmission in return "for a few things." But he said that the move to intensify its lobby in Washington arose when the government failed to produce the MOU for perusal and signing within two weeks.
However, the statement from the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday said that no timetable was set for the presentation of the MOU.
The statement referred to a joint press release issued at the end of the Trinidad round of negotiations stating that it was agreed that the government would prepare an MOU reflecting the matters discussed. The statement said both sides were to consult with their principals prior to the resumption of negotiations and this was confirmed in a letter of May 15, from government's head negotiator, Attorney-General Doodnauth Singh, to GT&T's Chief Executive Officer, Sonita Jagan.
"...As soon as Cabinet has given consideration to the document and gives a mandate to the team, I will contact you with a view to fixing a time for continuation of negotiations," the statement quoted Singh as telling Jagan.
The statement further denied that ATN/GT&T had ever introduced for discussions or negotiations a condition that "consensual termination" of its monopoly must precede implementation of the ICT project. This was the claim of ATN/GT&T in advertisements in Sunday's newspapers.
"For the government of Guyana to agree to any such conditionality would be to negotiate under duress and would be totally unacceptable," the statement declared.
The statement added that the government's position on negotiating a termination of ATN/GT&T's monopoly and concluding the ICT project with the IDB was consistent with best international practices and in accordance with the principles established by the International Telecommunications Union, the World Trade Organisation and with the declared policy of the US government in support of competition in the global and domestic telecommunications market.
The government said that its intention is to continue its efforts to negotiate with ATN/GT&T, in good faith, an amicable settlement of all of the issues regarding ATN's claim to monopoly rights for the purpose of concluding an orderly transition to a liberalised, competitive telecommunications sector in the interest of the country.
The statement also argued that on November 23, 2001 the government invited ATN/GT&T to urgently start negotiations on terminating the monopoly and it was only on December 24th of that year that the company responded refusing to start negotiations and setting the granting of rate increases as a condition. The statement pointed out that it was only on February 28, 2002 that ATN/GT&T finally came to the table. "It is, therefore, nonsense for the Chairman of ATN/GT&T... to protest his company's readiness to negotiate", the statement contended.
ATN/GT&T said it was not opposed to giving up its monopoly but wanted to be adequately compensated for breaking its contract.