Squandering our money on BWIA

THE EDITOR: For the benefit of those individuals who seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that the Government of TT has a bottomless well filled to the brim with money that they can squander as they see fit, let me attempt to put things in their true perspective. In reality the Government does not own one red cent, the Government is elected by the people every five years as custodians of their collective assets to manage their affairs including finances, in a responsible and accountable manner for the benefit of and in the best interest of the people.

Unfortunately however, this is not always the case, gross mismanagement and unaccountability and corruption frequently occur at the expense of the uninformed public. Having put that matter straight and clear, I have a serious issue to take up with the President of the Chamber of Commerce who is alleged to have said in a recent press report that, “The Government must decide to keep BWIA in the air.” The history of BWIA is one of continuous financial loss amounting to billions of dollars of losses from its inception. Even in the days when fuel cost was relatively cheap, labour cost was insignificant and maintenance and operational cost were only a fraction of what they are today, BWIA was never a viable proposition far less a money earner.

Even its capital assets have dwindled considerably, their fleet of aircraft has been disposed of and their present fleet is on lease at significant cost to the airline. If the Chamber of Commerce is of the opinion that BWIA must be kept in the air at all cost, perhaps they should persuade the private business sector to collectively finance the operation of the airline and remove the burden from the backs of the taxpaying citizens of this country. Let’s face it, BWIA is in reality just another Caroni Limited, even though perhaps on a slightly smaller scale. Enough is enough, let us move on. The money being thrown away could be far better spent.

MARTIN KAVANAGH
La Romaine