Prime Minister Perry Christie said his government is moving to have the telecommunications sector liberalised “as quickly as possible,” even though his government was only allowed to legally make moves in this regard since April 6.

During a “A Report to the Nation: Second Anniversary of Governance” a special press conference held by Cabinet ministers on the eve of their second anniversary in office, Prime Minister Christie said the government has set target dates for itself but has already made one step in that direction – appointing a task force for liberalisation.

“Our predecessors in government in government signed agreements that prevented us from dealing with this matter before April 6,” he said. “We were only released to deal with this matter after April 6 and thereafter we moved to create a task force that will guide the way. We have set targets for ourselves.

“We want to do this as quickly as possible to have competition in the marketplace and we are about to announce the task force and they are about to release the position they would wish the public to see in terms of times and dates. So you can look forward to Mrs. (Ruth) Millar and her team being introduced to you and they will announce what they will do with URCA (Utilities Competition and Regulation Authority).”

The prime minister also announced yesterday that the transfer of the two per cent shares from The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) back to the Bahamian people is still in the works.

He added that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is in its final stages and will soon be tabled in the House of Assembly.

The prime minister said all that is left to take place is for lawyers on both sides to seal the deal.