THE JAMAICA Labour Party says that the decision of the Constitutional Court that the exclusive licence granted to Cable & Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) by the Government in 2000 was unconstitutional represented full vindication of the party's position on the matter.
In a news release yesterday, Russell Hadeed, the JLP's spokesman on utilities, said that during the debate on the Telecommunications Act in March 2000, Edward Seaga, the JLP leader, had "challenged the position of the Government that the previous JLP Government had given an exclusive 25-year licence to Cable and Wireless on all services wire and wireless."
He noted that "much political capital" had been made of the point, despite the JLP's contention that there was no exclusivity on wireless, including voice over Internet."
"The response of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to the warning by the Opposition that Government was acting unconstitutionally by denying the constitutional right of freedom of expression to applicants was an arrogant dismissal of Mr. Seaga's argument by Mr. Patterson, 'You can go to court if you want'.
"InfoChannel took its denial for voice over Internet service to court and the result is a rebuttal by the Constitutional Court of Government's political strategy, which is likely to cost millions of dollars in compensation to InfoChannel. The Opposition congratulates InfoChannel for standing up for its rights. Once again, the Opposition has rebuffed an attempt by Government to abrogate a fundamental human right in the Jamaican Constitution," Mr. Hadeed said.
The Constitutional Court on Friday declared sections of the controversial Telecommunications Act of 2000 unconstitutional, in terms of the exclusive licence granted to C&WJ by the Government in March that year.
The court unanimously ruled the action unconstitutional and in breach of the fundamental rights and freedoms of InfoChannel Ltd., the telecoms provider.
