DOMA: BWIA priceless

NO price tag can be attached to the importance of BWIA to Trinidad and Tobago. This was the declaration yesterday from the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) as it joined the chorus of voices appealing for the national airline’s salvation. In a statement, DOMA said: “It is impossible to place a monetary value on the importance of national pride except to say that pride is a crucial element of devotion to one’s country and a stimulant of comittment for citizens to help build any nation. In this regard, we say with confidence that BWIA should be preserved because it is an icon of our national pride and a companion to our belief that we can be players on the world stage. A regional airline is an indigenous part of our future.” DOMA stressed that a “crucial element of this preservation” is the urgent restoration of confidence in BWIA’s viability. The Association lamented that BWIA’s financial difficulties are compounded “by the erosion of faith among the travelling public.” DOMA declared that “positive signals of unequivocal support mixed with conditions and enlightened management should be the message of survival for BWIA and this message should be delivered before we do irreparable damage to our favourite airline of 60 years.”