PM wings out on private jet

IN AN unprecedented move, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago will hire, for use by Prime Minister Patrick Manning, a private jet to fly to a Caricom meeting in Jamaica. A release from the PM’s office, which announced the decision, stated that it was as cheap as a commercial flight. The decision comes weeks after a Coast Guard aircraft bringing the PM home from Barbados, suddenly lost altitude and dropped thousands of feet, causing concern and alarm for the passengers on board. Usually the PM would use the Coast Guard aircraft for “short trips.”

Yesterday, however Manning took the step of issuing a statement from his Whitehall office to justify the flight — this morning. The statement said hiring a private aircraft would save time, at no extra cost. He is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Caricom Prime Ministerial Expert Group on Governance on issues affecting Caricom. The statement said he would leave Trinidad at 6 am for Jamaica for the 9 am meeting, on an aircraft rented from Guardian Holdings. He is due back late this evening. Had he travelled by BWIA, the Prime Minister would have had to leave on Friday morning and return on Sunday night, the statement said. The rented aircraft would let him and his party of four conduct the country’s business in one day, so they won’t have to spend two nights in Jamaica, the statement explained.

“A comparison of the costs being incurred reveals that travelling by the rented aircraft would be no more expensive than if he and his delegation flew by commercial aircraft.” Sources stated that the executive jet is the only one of its kind in the country, and was recently acquired by Guardian Holdings. In the absence of Manning, Minister of Public Administration, Dr Lenny Saith, will act as prime minister. Manning was involved in a controversy when he accepted a private jet ride from Repsol, the Spanish energy giant. At that time, he indicated that some consideration may have to be given in the future on the use of a private jet.

Speaking at a news conference last February, Manning stated, “As Trinidad and Tobago moves into developed country status, and as we begin to exert greater influence in the region, the Caribbean and western hemisphere, and especially if we acquire the headquarters of the FTAA, you are going to see a need for greater travel by the political directorate of this country, and other questions (about an executive jet) will then arise if not before.”

He added that Caricom leaders had been discussing the issue of having an executive jet facility put at their disposal. As they canvassed the need for executive jet travel, Manning then recalled that when he travelled to Jamaica on the weekend before, he had to leave on Friday morning and return on Sunday. “I could easily have left on Friday afternoon and come back on Saturday (had I had a private jet facility). You go to Barbados and the number of executive jets you would see on the ground at any one time, you would understand,” he said.