ATTORNEYS in the legal battle brewing between the Government and local mobile phone provider Symbiote (Caricel) have been ordered not to make any further public pronouncements on the matter.

The order was made yesterday by Justice Leighton Pusey during the injunction hearing where attorney representing Symbiote, Douglas Leyes made submissions seeking to block the Government from revoking the domestic mobile spectrum licence granted to Caricel.

The licence was issued last September against strong recommendations by the Office of the Contractor General not to grant it because of “negative findings” in its probe of the operation and one of its principals.

The matter resumes in the Supreme Court today.

News of the move to revoke the licence surfaced this week in the wake of the United States Government’s revocation of visitor’s visas held by lawyers representing the telecoms company — Patrick Bailey and Minette Lawrence and her husband Lowell Lawrence, who heads the outfit.

Bert Samuels, attorney representing George Neil, one of the Caricel directors who has been at the centre of the controversy, told the

Jamaica Observer on Tuesday that the team was not nervous about the development. “As the firm of attorneys representing Caricel has noted that a certain foreign state has removed travel privileges to the attorneys who are attorneys for Caricel… we want to place on record that in our duty as attorneys for this body we are not intimidated, and we will not be moved from our position to represent our clients,” Samuels said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness was cautious while commenting on the matter at a meeting at Jamaica House where he announced the Government’s plans for transformation of the public sector.

“The Jamaican Government that I lead acts according to its laws… we went through a very detailed process, followed the law, and the result was the grant of a licence. Subsequently, there has been new information provided, and a very important partner to Jamaica has raised some concerns; the Government has a duty to pay attention to those concerns and see whether or not they could potentially align with issues for Jamaica,” he said.

Last November, the US Embassy tweeted a comment on the contractor general’s concerns and later told journalist Cliff Hughes on his

Nationwide News Network programme that telecoms companies can have significant impact on a country’s ability to carry out law enforcement operations.

“These are serious concerns and we are wondering where is the further debate on this issue,” public affairs counsellor at the embassy, Joshua Polacheck said.

The Opposition People’s National Party has, meanwhile, indicated its intention to bring additional questions to Parliament about the arrangement.

— Alphea Saunders