Stiff competition for air bridge

TOBAGO House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London yesterday declared that the island’s sea bridge has been revolutionised by the arrival of the fast ferry Cat and the MV Sonia and would soon be giving the Tobago air bridge stiff competition as far as inter-island transport and communication are concerned. Speaking with reporters aboard the Cat, minutes after it docked in Scarborough after its maiden voyage from Port-of-Spain, London said he was “quite encouraged and very heartened” to see that the Cat made the inter-island run in two hours and 15 minutes. He said if this trend continued (together with the service now being provided by the Sonia), “then for the first time, sea transport is going to compete with air transport in a very significant way. When you talk about moving 700 to 800 people (on the sea bridge), then you can see how that will impact on the air bridge problem,” the Chief Secretary said.

Government has wet-leased two ATR-72 aircraft from Cimber Air of Denmark to assist BWIA on the Tobago air bridge in the short-term. One week ago, Works and Transport Minister Franklin Khan disclosed that he had received a report outlining a long-term, domestic air transportation plan and he would discuss this plan with London after the January 17 THA elections. At a public meeting in Lambeau on Saturday night, DAC leader Hochoy Charles charged that it was an insult to Tobagonians for the Sonia and the Cat to have been wet-leased during the election campaign and reiterated that the vessels were nothing but an election gimmick to help the PNM win the upcoming polls. To this repeated allegation, London explained: “People have to understand that you don’t buy a boat how you buy a car or a suit. This takes a lot of negotiations. It has been a long process and these decisions were made by the technocrats.

“These decisions were made after the relevant consultations and discussions were held. Therefore, we are quite comfortable that the decision is one we can stand on. Regardless of what the Opposition says, wet-leasing is the only option for a responsible administration. We are in a no-lose situation.” At a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall last month, Khan indicated that the Cat would be wet-leased for a six month-period at a cost of US$23,800 per day and Government could opt out of this agreement at any time if it was not satisfied with the vessel’s performance.  London added that no matter what allegations are made about the timing of the vessels’ arrival, the one thing Tobagonians could be guaranteed was that no fewer than three vessels would be operating on the Tobago sea-bridge from this point on. The Chief Secretary said the fact that the Sonia and the Cat arrived during the THA election campaign “was not a deliberate or a cynical act on our (PNM) part.” London was also pleased to see that the Cat was vastly superior to the infamous Condor ferry or “Vomit Comet” and said the next six to seven months would be used to evaluate the Cat’s performance and what socio-economic benefits it could bring to Tobago.