At a time when government needs all its resources, information reaching our newsroom indicates that some individuals within the legislature have embarked on an unpatriotic strategy of strangulating a major government funding resource in the form of the International Gateway Measuring (IGM) Project.
The IGM is a process for which Inbound calls – telephone calls from abroad--are measured and by which international carriers are charged some modest regulatory fee to the LTA and Service Providers for the termination of all such calls on the networks of the service providers.
It may be recalled that early this year, the LTA, as the telecommunications regulatory body, and the Service Providers on the one hand, and the LTA and the Legislature on the other, have engaged in a prolonged tussle over the implementation of this project which, industry experts say, is geared towards maximizing GOL revenue from the telecommunications sector.
Following weeks of see-saw arguments, the Legislature (both House and Senate) finally held public and Committee hearings on the issue, after which the Legislature wrote to the LTA and endorsed the project. The LTA then gave the LTA the green light to go ahead with the implementation of the IGM project. The only caveat the Legislature came out with then was that the proceeds generated from the project that were meant to go to the LTA under the Contractual Agreement entered into by the LTA/ Global Voice Group S.A (GVG) would instead be deposited in the GOL Account.
Our sources also say the LTA was dissatisfied with this arrangement because in most telecommunications jurisdictions, such regulatory fees as charged on the IGM go directly to the regulator. Notwithstanding, and in order not to delay the project and considering that the LTA could subsequently request the Ministry of Finance to access some portion of that regulatory fee for sector development and for LTA’s infrastructural needs, the LTA decided to abide by the decision of the Legislature.
Prior to all the controversies that arose over the IGM Project; the LTA had carried out a process by which it acquired the technical/infrastructural services that are needed to effect the implementation of the inbound calls relative to the IGM project.
The IGM project went through all of the required procedures, including PPCC’s approval of restricted local and international bidding, contract approval by Cabinet and relevant ministries of the GOL, including the Ministries of Justice and Finance.
During the vigorous bidding process, Global Voice Group S.A (GVG) emerged as the one with the most competency and performance history to successfully implement the project.
Long before the LTA got into the present agreement with GVG the project 9endorsed by the cabinet and the Legislature) the LTA had in fact appealed and made numerous requests to the GOL through the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning to invest in the project so as to derive the necessary revenue from its implementation.
All efforts by the LTA to obtain such assistance from the GOL proved futile as the GOL said it didn’t have the resources to invest in the revenue generating project. It was after those experiences that the LTA was left with no alternative but to go in on its own because the project held and still holds revenue prospects for both the LTA and GOL in general.
Reports reaching our newsroom indicate that some individuals within the legislature have been maneuvering for largely personal reasons to get a “piece of the pie,” which reportedly LTA has been resisting.
Observers now think that these few minorities who haven’t been able to achieve their individual agenda in the whole project have now moved in at this late day especially after proceeds to be realized have been factored in the GOL budget, to frustrate the implementation of the project.
Sadly, according to these observers, the GVG has since invested heavily in terms of equipment and services to ensure that the program is realized and invoices are ready to be sent to the service providers.
Meanwhile, there is already an agreement between the LTA and the GOL and GVG with respect to the implementation of what many observers consider as a vital national undertaking by the struggling Telecom regulator.
Our observers further observe that any attempt at this point to undo or breach this already signed agreement approved by the GOL and LTA will incur a heavy penalty on the LTA and the GOL as contained in the agreement, including the payment of some U.S$ 1 to 2 Million.
Meanwhile, the government continues to lose money because some of these few individuals interested in their own personal benefits are trying to hold up the implementation of the project which should have started bringing in significant amount of money since the beginning of this year. Investigation continues on this issue.
Also published in Vol. No. 69 of The NEWS Newspaper, Liberia. July 31, 2012
