‘It Wasn’t Me’ – Senate President breaks silence: BTL request was for entire Senate, not independent Senators; Briefing was never scheduled

By Breaking Belize News Staff: President of the Senate Carolyn Trench Sandiford has broken her silence on the controversy surrounding Belize Telemedia Limited’s request to brief Senators on its proposed acquisition of Speednet Communications Limited, confirming that the request was made to address the Senate as a whole and was never specifically directed to the independent Senators, though the request was never scheduled.

In a detailed statement issued Wednesday, the Senate President said she received BTL Chief Executive Officer Ivan Tesucum’s request on February 6, 2026, seeking an opportunity to brief Senators during the week of February 9 on the Speednet proposal. The statement stresses “for the avoidance of doubt” that BTL’s request was directed to the President of the Senate for a presentation to the entire Senate — not specifically to the Independent Senators.

The clarification comes amid a public dispute over comments by BTL Chairman Mark Lizarraga, who said BTL had extended invitations to the Independent Senators but they had not accepted. Senators Kevin Herrera, Glenfield Dennison, Rev. Louis Wade and Janelle Chanona have categorically denied ever receiving such an invitation. Correspondence previously made public showed that BTL had written to Trench Sandiford requesting an audience with members of the Senate.

According to Wednesday’s statement, Trench Sandiford acknowledged BTL’s request on February 10 and informed Tesucum that she would discuss the matter with the Clerk of the National Assembly before responding. Following that consultation, the President decided that BTL’s request should ultimately be granted because the matter was of public importance — but no briefing date was scheduled at that time.

The President explained that the acquisition process had effectively been paused following an announcement by Public Utilities Minister Michel Chebat on February 6. She therefore decided to monitor developments before determining an appropriate date for BTL’s presentation. The Senate’s workload, other National Assembly commitments and the approaching recess were also taken into consideration.

Importantly, the statement says the plan was that only after a proposed date and time had been determined and confirmed with BTL would Senators then be invited to attend the information session. The BTL request was consequently placed among matters awaiting scheduling.

That account provides significant new context to the controversy. It confirms that BTL did communicate a desire to make a presentation to the Senate through its President, but also confirms that the correspondence was not an invitation addressed to the Independent Senators and that invitations to individual Senators had not yet been issued under the process outlined by the President.

The President further disclosed that, as of August 12, the Senate has 36 matters before it, including 16 bills, seven motions, 10 papers and three requests for presentations — one of which is BTL’s. The Senate formally entered recess on August 1 until September 11, although the recess was interrupted for an urgent Senate sitting on August 4.

With BTL’s Board having since approved advancing the proposed acquisition of 100 percent of Speednet’s shares, valued by the company at approximately $80 million and still subject to further due diligence and final agreements, Trench Sandiford says the time has now come to schedule the briefing.

She said she will now respond to BTL’s CEO with a proposed date and time for an Information Session for Senators, at which BTL will be allowed to brief them on the acquisition. The Public Utilities Commission will also be invited to participate.

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