Washington seeks power to ban air travellers – even if they are only flying OVER the U.S.
The US government is demanding the right to ban British air passengers from flying over America en route to other countries even when the flights will not land in the United States. Under anti-terrorism measures due to come into force within two years, the US authorities insist they need to do background checks on all UK air passengers travelling to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Direct flights to popular holiday destinations such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Toronto and Mexico City would all be covered by stringent US security checks examining people’s passport details, travel plans and even how they paid for their ticket. US security officials insist the checks must be completed 72 hours before departure or the flight will be banned from US airspace. Anyone identified as having “suspicious indicators associated with travel behaviour” by US security would be prevented from boarding their flight.
Source: Daily Mail emailed by a member of the BU family
In this part of the world it is no secret that our standard of living is solely dependent on tourism with the exception of Trinidad & Tobago which is blessed with large oil deposits. According to the Central Bank numbers the UK tourist market has been increasing faster than other markets. Barbados and the other islands of the Caribbean who rely on the UK market as a staple source of tourist supply have had to adopt business strategies to compensate for higher air cost from Europe to the Caribbean. If the USA get their way with this latest initiative to ban British passengers flying over US air space this would have a significant impact on the economies of the Caribbean.
There is the saying that for every action there is a reaction. The United States of America often dubbed the World Police have declared war on terrorism. They have a right to protect their borders, we do not deny them that right. Of little concern to them is the fact that tiny islands in the Caribbean may have their economies develop a vicious spiral as a result. The gloating which Barbados and other islands in the Caribbean may have felt with the moral victory achieved in their encounter with OECD countries a few years ago maybe short-lived. Another case of Goliath having the last laugh.
Maybe the recent statements coming from Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy and others at the Foreign Affairs ministries that Barbados should seriously examine the Central & Latin America markets is prophetic. There is the quiet anticipation that Barbados will strike the black stuff soon, but a responsible government should not use a lottery approach to managing the affairs of a country. Prime Minister David Thompson will be mindful that under the last Democratic Labour Party they demitted office under a cloud of incompetence. The turmoil of the world financial markets will continue and the challenges for the small open economies of our region will no doubt escalate.
Prime Minister David Thompson and his team should not underestimate the challenge of managing a 2×3 country against the global landscape of today. It is the reason why the blogs and the commenters have been bellowing that the way how we govern must start to change because after all the global market has CHANGED and continues to CHANGE.
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