PLP reveals CONFLICT following sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless

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Senate President Lynn Holowesko and son Mark who is now a government appointee on BTC Board.

CLICK HERE TO READ: 13449_holdings

CLICK TO READ: CWC Conflict Story

STATEMENT: The Government of the Bahamas announced at the closing of the 51% shareholding to Cable & Wireless several new directors including Mr. Mark Holowesko, a director of Franklyn Templeton Investments, which is presently chaired by former US Treasury Secretary Mr. Nicholas Brady.

Confirmation of the status of Mr. Holowesko’s involvement with the Templeton Fund may be accessed by clicking on the attached link for the unaudited annual report for Franklyn Templeton Investment Funds for the year ending December 31st, 2010.

This fund is a significant player in the international investment scene with multibillion dollar assets totaling more than $120 Billion Dollars.

Nick Brady

Franklyn Templeton are also shareholders in Cable & Wireless Worldwide, the parent company of Cable & Wireless Communications, the parent company of the new privatized Bahamas Telecommunications Company.

At the time of the announcement of Mr. Holowesko to the board of BTC, no disclosure was made by the Prime Minister or Cable & Wireless of the apparent divided loyalty of Mr. Holowesko.

Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition demands to know in who’s interest is Mr. Holowesko serving? Is Mr. Holowesko representing the interest of the Bahamian people as a government appointee to the board or is he there as a representative of the company for which he is employed, or is it both?

This apparent conflict is both alarming and indicative of this FNM government’s continued dalliances in shady insider practices when it comes to our national institutions such as BTC. We are informed that the parent company of Cable & Wireless Communications, Temasek Holdings Pte Limited (Investment Management) are the majority shareholders of Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel). The company operates in three segments; Singapore, Australia, Thailand,India, The Philippines and Indonesia.

A major shareholder of SingTel is Templeton Global Advisors Limited which falls under the umbrella of Franklyn Templeton Investments. Temasek Holdings Limited’s 54% ownership of SingTel is under the control of the Government of Singapore.

The Progressive Liberal Party is astonished that once again, the media in this country has chosen not to pursue matters in the public interest. Not a single line has been devoted to this troubling conflict despite the mountain of available evidence to confirm it. The National Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party raised this issue while appearing as a guest on Love 97’s Jones & Co. No media outlet in the country except for The Bahama Journal and Love 97 and JCN 14 carried the story. This is further proof of the complicity of the Bahamian media in covering up and hiding the misdeeds of an inept, corrupt and possibly criminal ruling party.

The nagging questions persist as to what role Mr. Holowesko is playing in this BTC Cable & Wireless marriage.

At the time of the announcement of Mr. Holowesko to the board of BTC, no disclosure was made by the Prime Minister or Cable & Wireless of the apparent divided loyalty of Mr. Holowesko.

Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition demands to know in who’s interest is Mr. Holowesko serving? Is Mr. Holowesko representing the interest of the Bahamian people as a government appointee to the board or is he there as a representative of the company for which he is employed, or is it both?

This apparent conflict is both alarming and indicative of this FNM government’s continued dalliances in shady insider practices when it comes to our national institutions such as BTC. We are informed that the parent company of Cable & Wireless Communications, Temasek Holdings Pte Limited (Investment Management) are the majority shareholders of Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel). The company operates in three segments; Singapore, Australia, Thailand,India, The Philippines and Indonesia.

A major shareholder of SingTel is Templeton Global Advisors Limited which falls under the umbrella of Franklyn Templeton Investments. Temasek Holdings Limited’s 54% ownership of SingTel is under the control of the Government of Singapore.

The Progressive Liberal Party is astonished that once again, the media in this country has chosen not to pursue matters in the public interest. Not a single line has been devoted to this troubling conflict despite the mountain of available evidence to confirm it. The National Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party raised this issue while appearing as a guest on Love 97’s Jones & Co. No media outlet in the country except for The Bahama Journal and Love 97 and JCN 14 carried the story. This is further proof of the complicity of the Bahamian media in covering up and hiding the misdeeds of an inept, corrupt and possibly criminal ruling party.

The nagging questions persist as to what role Mr. Holowesko is playing in this BTC Cable & Wireless marriage.

Was Mr. Mark Holowesko involved in the sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless, a company he is intimately involved in as an investor, from the beginning? If so, in what capacity? Who was he serving then and who is he serving now? Was Mr. Holowesko’s close ties to the Bahamian government through his mother’s role as President of the Senate and his as a donor to that party the decisive factor in Cable & Wireless, a company this very same Prime Minister swore he would never sell to, the reason Cable & Wireless emerged out of nowhere to become owners of BTC? 

Will the Prime Minister do the decent and proper thing and put the breaks on what is emerging as not only an insidiously incestuous relationship with this Franklyn Templeton group and the many versions of Cable & Wireless and our BTC? Will the Prime Minister cause Mr. Holowesko’s appointment to BTC’s board be rescinded in the public’s interest? What does the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States government think of what could possibly be a criminal conflict in this deal? 

Was Mr. Mark Holowesko involved in the sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless, a company he is intimately involved in as an investor, from the beginning? If so, in what capacity? Who was he serving then and who is he serving now? Was Mr. Holowesko’s close ties to the Bahamian government through his mother’s role as President of the Senate and his as a donor to that party the decisive factor in Cable & Wireless, a company this very same Prime Minister swore he would never sell to, the reason Cable & Wireless emerged out of nowhere to become owners of BTC? 

– Will the Prime Minister do the decent and proper thing and put the breaks on what is emerging as not only an insidiously incestuous relationship with this Franklyn Templeton group and the many versions of Cable & Wireless and our BTC?

– Will the Prime Minister cause Mr. Holowesko’s appointment to BTC’s board be rescinded in the public’s interest?

– What does the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States government think of what could possibly be a criminal conflict in this deal?

9 COMMENTS

  1. heY hey- And were signing TIEA’s all about the place and I can bet $1million Dollars there is not one enquiry made by the U.S. SEC nor the almighty FATF, not a peep- its a farce -Anti Money Laundering my a**

  2. Well well. Why am I not surprised? The privatization of BTC is a good thing. But this deal stinks like the Goggle eye out on Potter’s Cay. Every angle of this deal has some element of clientelism, corruption and dishonesty. The PLP may have had some dishonesty in the Blue Water deal, this level of corruption surpasses any I’ve seen in a while. A commission of inquiry really should be convened. The government really has some nerve, some effrontery. Well all I can tell the Bahamian people is to piss on them this election. They already piss on you and flush you down the toilet.

    • BTC SALE WAS CORRUPT FROM DAY ONE. NOW WE KNOW INGRAHAM HAD HIS OWN DEEP IN BED IN THE DEAL!

      SOME PEOPLE HAVE NO DAMN SHAME!

      BP

  3. BP, Mr. Ingraham will always be in be with the white elite. Having grown up in Abaco where the whites are financially and socially dominant, he cannot relate to young black Bahamians who are confident and demand equal opportunity. Remember at his grandmother’s funeral, he fondly remembered that she sent him to “white people” (his words) for him to learn table manners. so in his mind they are superior. BP, the P.M. has deep emotional caves that make him hate himself, and consequently us. He is another Robert Mugabe and thinks that he owns the Bahamas. Well we shall see about that!! This BTC/C&W deal was a corrupt deal, and a sell-out of our national interest. Papa betrayed his country…yet again. Treasonous Jackal!!

  4. The Prime Minister assume that Bahamians don’t read, so this information would not be available.
    What really need to happen in this country now rather than latter.

    Hubert Alexander Ingraham need to RESIGN NOW.

  5. Like they say “follow the money”!! Why is every decision always end up more about the money and never really ever about what is in the best interest of our people. Why??

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