PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Trinidad and Tobago government Thursday said that it would not be involved in any regional air transport arrangement that would result in a financial burden on the island, even as it acknowledged that the state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) would continue to play a role in regional air transportation.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, speaking at the weekly Cabinet news conference, told reporters that while the issue of air and sea transportation had been discussed extensively at the just concluded Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit in Suriname, Port of Spain would not be part of any initiative that would require it putting out significant sums of money as it did in the past.
“You know, in Trinidad and Tobago, that’s tricky for us. There are several airlines in the region, but we have the ones…going back to BWIA days. Then CAL, as we have now, I should tell you our position in all of these matters with air service is that Trinidad and Tobago is not interested as a government in getting involved in owning regional transport of the type that we had in Bee Wee where we had significant responsibility but carried it as a Trinidad and Tobago financial burden.”
He said the government is committed to keeping CAL “alive and well” and that the government is already in hot debt-wise supporting CAL to the tune of over US$250 million…and, of course, CAL’s existence in the marketplace as an airline and flying routes are under the instructions of the government of Trinidad and Tobago to only flyways that are commercially viable”.
He said if additional routes are available “outside CAL’s own decision, the territories that want those routes will have to contribute towards their sustenance.”
Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago had been involved in an initiative with two foreign airlines, “literally pay them for seats not taken to preserve the route into the territory.
“Now, if the routes become attractive and it is filled out, then there is no cost, but to get the routes started and supported for some significant time until it becomes viable …then the standard practice is that the country that is asking for that has to put up a letter of credit upfront and if the seats are not taken then that letter of credit pays for the empty seats.”
He said that these are some discussions that are to take place among the territories, “but CAL would be there but not taking a burden in the way that we have been accustomed to because even in the way they are operating now on the limited schedule that we are using on the more profitable routes CAL is still relying on the Minister of Finance of Trinidad and Tobago for significant support.”
He said the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic “did not help that.
“We have supported CAL considerably to be able to have an airline operating, maintaining all the benefits …by putting the resources of the people of Trinidad and Tobago virtually alone.
“But the region is looking for help and maybe some kind of arrangement …hub and spoke arrangement can be brought into a bear, but we leave that for those who are involved in it, but the policy as to what role we will play is pretty clear,” Rowley told reporters.
On Tuesday night, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, speaking at the end of the summit news conference, said CARICOM leaders had agreed on a new modern Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA) that will allow for a new framework within which air transportation will operate in the region.
He said that countries, particularly those in the Eastern Caribbean and even Trinidad and Tobago, were severely affected by the loss of thousands of seats “because LIAT, as it was, is no longer before us.
“You did not realize it while COVID-19 (coronavirus) was on, but we see the problems after COVID has receded somewhat and people are traveling again. So, a discussion has taken place between the prime ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, Barbados, and Guyana, and I know Prime Minister (Roosevelt) Skerrit of Dominica will be involved in this”.
Gonsalves said that given St. Kitts-Nevis is in “an election cycle” and was not represented at the summit that ended on Tuesday, “we have decided between those countries …that we are going to address the issue of a regional air carrier of some kind, may well be the revival of LIAT in some form or the other, but we have to get a consultant in the area of aviation to put the framework together and some numbers as a matter of urgency for us to move on”.
He said while that is taking place, he has been given the responsibility to “coordinate certain things to get that going, and then we get the terms of reference for such an exercise and to have a further conversation at the leadership level.”
Gonsalves said such a meeting could take place in either St. Vincent and the Grenadines or St. Lucia sometime between the 28 and the end of July… to advance this question efficiently.
During the news conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Rowley also awoke to the developments regarding sea transportation, noting that before the summit in Suriname, regional leaders at a meeting in Guyana had directed him to work with the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) “towards determining the feasibility of re-introduction of marine transportation because we have to have significant marine transportation.”
He said the discussions are taking place along the models of the Federal boats launched in 1961 as gifts from Canada to the West Indies Federation.
“It was the best times for those of us who moved around affordably in the region, and if we are going to produce a significant amount of raw material in the areas of Suriname, Guyana, and Brazil, then to move them into Trinidad and Tobago and to the other islands where they will be utilized…we would need proper transport.”
Rowley said the CDB and a team from Trinidad and Tobago had presented its work to date to the leaders, “and we got some clearance to carry out and at the same time the Prime Minister of Barbados (Mia Mottley), who is responsible for finance and financial matters in CARICOM she was authorized to look for the funding to fund those vessels ….
“She has done some significant work on that, and to date, we are in very productive talks with potential funders from the Middle East,” Rowley added.
According to the communique issued following the summit, the regional leaders “considered the region’s need for a significantly enhanced transportation system that can bolster food security and deepen regional integration.”
It said that they welcomed an update from Prime Minister Mottley on advanced discussions with the United Arab Emirates regarding support for both a traditional ferry and fast ferry service for the region and noted that a related proposal from the Capital Abu Dhabi is being awaited.
“Heads of government requested the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to commence the proposed roadmap study on the factors needed for successfully establishing a fast ferry service for the transportation of agricultural produce – with an initial focus on trade between Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Barbados,” the communique said.
They also agreed to establish a Working Group to provide oversight of the project, which will include representatives from the governments of Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the CARICOM Secretariat, CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO), and the CDB.CMC/pr/ire/2022
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