Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley has disclosed that he's awaiting a recommendation from the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) on whether to approve the sale of Jamaican telecommunications company, Caricel, to a South African firm. This includes a fit and proper test.
In an interview with RJR News Monday night, Dr. Wheatley insisted that he had not given the greenlight for the transfer of Caricel's licence in the wake of the reported sale of the company to Involution which was negotiated in October last year.
“Caricel wrote to me, as Minister, last year indicating an intention to sell their company to a South African company,” he confirmed.
The matter was then referred to the OUR, he said, “for them to do a fit and proper test and all the necessary due diligence,” prior to making a recommendation to him concerning whether the sale should be approved.
He had not yet received that recommendation, he said.
Contractor General Dirk Harrison last week said recent reports of the sale of Caricel to the South African firm had left him concerned about the manner in which it was done.
He said there are questions concerning whether there were breaches of the Telecommunications Act.
There were questions, such as whether the South African company complied with all the obligations of Caricel's licence and the requirements imposed by Cabinet in 2016, and whether it has supplied all the relevant documents to the regulators.
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