Prime Minister Bruce Golding (l), Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (r)
BU resisted giving our two cents on the current tug war between Barbados and Trinidad but defend we must the yella blue. All the other Caribbean islands defend their ‘colours’ and honour, Bajans however are expected to be a rare breed of people who should adsorb the disrespect of our Caricom neighbours with ‘grace and aplomb’.
First it was Guyana heaping their crap on us in the great immigration debate, Jamaica recently joined the fray with the still unsettled Myrie incident and now Trinidad and Tobago – the ridiculous outstanding fishing agreement not withstanding – decides to demonstrate disrespect for Barbados by screwing us on REDjet’s certification. The issue of airworthiness was never a problem until REDjet exhausted the approval process. Now we are being asked to believe uncertified pictures which have miraculous;y appeared on the Internet showing a rusting landing gear of an alleged REDjet plane. Allyuh must think Bajans foolish fuh trute.
To add to the mamaguying being pulled by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, she trumpeted at the recent St. Kitts Caricom Summit that she is backing a Fast Ferry Service as a solution to making regional travel more affordable. How convenient that such a service would not have to compete with CAL. How convenient the proposed passenger fare is $15.00. It should also be noted that a similar service on the San Fernando/Port of Spain sea route has been a financial failure to date.
Unlike the immigration issue with Guyana and the Myrie incident with Jamaica, the REDjet matter seems to be commanding popular support across the region. The people are supportive because the cost of regional air travel has spiralled out of control. The low budget strategy by REDjet seriously threatens the monopoly which BWIA/CAL has enjoyed for decades, more so now post-Air Jamaica acquisition. What some forget is that Barbados’ support for REDjet threatens the entity LIAT as well which has heavy financial implications for Barbados’ given our significant shareholding.
Even if the REDjet issue is settled tomorrow, the T&T government has exposed it’s hand. In what is a blatant protectionist move from a country whose inflow of capital and people threaten to sink Barbados, Barbadians should rightly feel betrayed. It has taken the REDjet matter to provoke the otherwise taciturn Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart to speak and Barbadians have been edified by it!
Yet again the two regional bullies of the Caribbean have tagged teamed to place the budding spirit of regional cooperation in a full nelson. History sadly records it happened once before in 1962. We live in times where mankind again and again ignores history much to his peril.
Barbadians at home and afar will wait yet again on our government to defend our honour. So too we wait on the expected opposition response from the Barbados Labour Party .
Here is T&T opposition leader on the matter, wonder what our opposition will say.
Barbados in the eyes of all these other countries seem to be second class to them. But truth be told Barbados gets the shitty end of the stick due to the progress that has been made in areas that these other countries haven’t made; They make fun at the way we speak. And even try to imitate us. But it’s so funny that Barbadians can imitate all the others so well that at times it’s impossible to tell who is who; Trinidad was never very happy with Barbados. And has been trying for years to get a big footing in Barbados; In my heart I feel that Barbados stands alone even though we try to UNITE with all the others to form CARICOM.. It’s rime for Barbadians to stand up and be heard loud and clear by all that we are sick and tired of the shit that all you others are trying to place before us; We will NEVER again be enslaved due to ignorance of others;
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I AM PROUD TO BE A BAJAN, even though I live abroad. MY HEART WILL ALWAYS BE IN BARBADOS THE PLACE OF MY BIRTH; SO let your voices be heard from every corner from at home to abroad that WE HAD ENOUGH;
I like the Prime Minister’s comments on this issue.
I hope his balls keep getting bigger.
We need to start letting others in this region know we will not continue to be their whipping boy
We can first start by boycotting CAL and stop buying products in the supermarket. We need to encourage the other islands to do so as well.
Kamla and Bruce think they have a marriage made in heaven. It will end in a nasty divorce and I hope that they don’t go to the CCJ to settle it.
CAL should be not be recognized as the Caribbean Airline.
Kamla think she scoring points when she announced the fast ferry service, but think again Madam. You want a direct route to Barbados to export your criminals but you wrong.
I was happy a woman was made PM in T&T BUT after she opened her mouth she made Manning look like a Statesman extraordinaire.
She is definitely an embarrassment to the Republic! Bruce you have no shame at all, after the Dudus affair, you have made the world fully aware of your sinister connections.
I dont want all this long talk Mr. Prime Minister. I thinks is darn disrespect that Trinidad could look at us and question our ability to certify Redjet. Who the hell Pamela thinks she is? Clearly she doesn’t have an iota about politics, Every time she opens her mouth, i expect her to misspeak and she continues to do so. Hope that I am not seeing an indio-trindadian bias towards Barbados.
I note with great interest that she has a specail interest in developing relationship with India. She was as quick to jet off to that country to try to deepen trade realtions there. Hope that she does not turn out like Sarah Palin, the only difference she has been electd to office and Sarah has not.
Perhaps, because of Trinidad’s dominance over barbados’s economic lamdscape, people like her and Jack Warner think they they can take this insular approach to Barbados. The time is now for action. The same way Redjet is made to feel, Cal must be made to feel on its outward bond to Trinidad. Pull a flight every day and cite satety concerns as the reason. It is time to be nasty.
Mr. Prime Minister, I have supported your silence of matters of the cj issue, the jamaican woman who claimed to have been finger raped, among other things, but I wont support you if you dot get a speedy resolution on this matter. Barabdains will support you on this matter. So Do what a masn has to do. Let Trinidad feel our weight and start and roundup some those illegal jamaicans and send them home,
The credit union movement and all Bajans investors (that mean all Bajans) should look closely at how the food and services sector is distributed and who control the majority. On the basis of national security and national interest the credit union movement and bajan investors should do their best to change that majority. I firmly believe that the credit union movement should be equipping and empowering the masses and therefore no right thinking, right operating credit union movement or bajan investors for that matter, should allow the food distribution sector to be monopolize by foreign entities.
The reason why other Caribbean nations, especially Trinidad, can hold Barbados to ransom and treat Bajans like a door mat is because they know they control the inflow of food to this island.
“Retaliate against us and we suffer you!! No Food!” thats their belief.
Look closely at Barbados food distribution sector and you will see that we have a national security problem.
Very little room to maneuver
History have shown us that if a country want to take control of another without a major fight, it take control of the ports, food, and water thereby shutting the country in until it surrender. .
Hi This is getting more interesting by the moments. I always enjoy a family brawl. It brings the family closer together. It is a pity those at the top are afraid to face the truth. In Guyana our indian leaders did not fail to run to India too. I wonder if it is an ethnic thing or could it be cecause India is getting more rich each day and there may be aid to be secured. I would like to think that it is because India is rich and naturally since they are of Indian descent then they would naturally get help faster. But keep the battle going and do not allow any Guyanese whether negro or Indian to settle there send am back to Burnham and Cheddi country we have lots of space here for them.
As it stands right now Barbados have more to loose than Trinidad .
The recent debate in parliament about amendment to the civil aviation legislation showed the oppositions position David. they are all for redjet though they would like the govt to give it more support. More support has been given now. wonder how long this will last now. 🙁
To add insult to injury, Trinidadian manufacturers, especially of garments, are busy re-labelling extra-regional goods and shipping them to Barbados CERTIFIED BY THE T&T GOVERNMENT as being made in Trinidad. This practice is now reaching a peak after going on for a long period of time. If they can questions Barbados’ ability to certify aircraft, the Barbados can certainly question The Trinidad government’s willingness to certify re-labelled goods. It’s getting serious and jobs in Barbados are on the line.
Barbados is caught between a “rock” and a hard place. Where do we go from here! We have been let down over the years by our own government .Looking at the outside to help solve our problems . We have very little to show in the manufacturing. I agree with island girl on boycotting. However what products or industry do we have to selfsustain us?i
Product can be source for elsewhere. what government would need to do is reduce the duties on those product from latin america that make them more expensive to the consumer than T&T products.
@Anthony
I dont think that can be done, but ah tell yah, i would make it difficult for the goods to be cleared, and perhaps the bwu can succintly tell its members what to do in relation to Trinidad’s products. Barbadains can start a campign aginst their products.
What some are suggesting is a last option which should be used when all has failed.
If you follow the T&T media you can easily discern that this is another unpopular decision by Kamla.
The Barbados government through its high commission and advocates can sell its position and bring public pressure to bear to work for us.
Duties can be change with a penstroke or just the words from minister. Do they wish to go so far is the question.
Unless the words corruption get linked to handling of redjet. kamla won’t be changing her mind any time soon. they suppose to be a dedicated meeting for caricom Secretary General and the barbados & T&T redjet issue in couple weeks. I don’t think anything will be done about it till then, The Jamaica seem to be forever requesting info. think they need to be a part of that meeting too to maximize productivity.
ac, of course we cannot supply locally all the products that we need, but many of the products being imported from Trinidad are also manufactured locally, and in many cases are of superior quality. We suffer from what is put in front of us at the stores. Where we can, we should buy local and insist that it is made available by the retailers. It’s time to take our country back!
@anthony, as if we aren’t in enough trouble economically, you now want to undermine our manufacturing sector. I agree that duties do protect regional manufactuers as well as our own, but we could be guilty of “throwing out the baby with the bathwater”.
I want to know what fly was doing before dog ear get stink?
Sorry. I don’t mean a whole sale free for all into the markets.I meant for product we don’t produce local and can’t be source else where in caribbean.
There is nothing wrong with Redjet that some US dollars stuffed in a brown paper bag wouldn’t have resolved
jack can argue it didn’t work out so well last time he tried it
WHAT BECAME OF THE PLANS TO DRILL FOR OIL AND GAS OFF BARBADOS THIS SHOULD RETURN TO THE FRONT BURNER ANY FOSSIL FUELS WE FIND OUT THERE WOULD LOOSEN TNT GRIP . INDICATIONS ARE THERE IS OIL AND GAS OUT THERE LIKE WE FOUND AT WOODBOURNE. GO AHEAD PM WE ARE BEHIND YOU YOU HAVE BEEN PATIENT ITS TIME TO PLAY KAMLA GAME.
There were comments on the Trinidad Express website forums about safety, and the “fact” that BW/CAL can proudly say they are a safe airline – and that aviation safety in the Caribbean must be maintained….hmm, how quickly they forget:
9 March 1992 – a BWIA L-1011-500 departing Frankfurt bound for St Lucia ‘lost’ the #1 engine thrust reverser cowl at 10,000 feet. The damn thing weighs a ton and is more than 6 feet around, and it tore off in flight, hitting the horizontal stabilizer and causing significant damage. The aircraft had to divert to London. It was determined to be a mechanical failure, BUT the reverser had experienced repeated faults before (these would have been logged at BW Engineering – why wasn’t this important issue solved?)
3 Oct 1993 – a BWIA MD-83 suffered an exploding hot water heater in the forward galley on departing Miami, significantly damaging not only the entire galley, but the cockpit wall as well. This is directly behind the copilot. If the blast had been more severe, one can imagine the flight crew being injured. Safety, eh?
I also seem to recall a few other ‘events’ – a hotdogging BW pilot slamming a 707 down on the runway here in Barbados, causing the nose gear to collapse (I visited the airport to see)……another hotdog doing a ‘wheelie’ with a L-1011 at ANU, where the reverse thrust from the tail engine (#2 engine) caused a disturbed airflow over the horizontal stabilizer, such that they had trouble getting the nose down in time to stop the large aircraft on the runway….and what about when they scraped the tail of the brand new A321 on landing at Piarco? I flew into Trinidad with the repair crew from Airbus a few days later, and saw the photos of the damage.
Spotless safety record indeed!
Do anyone in here understand that Trinidad own the major food importers and supermarket chains here in Barbados?
Boycotting Trinidad products will have a severe impact on employment and a domino effect on the food industry and hotel industry and the list goes on…..
That why I said that there is a national security problem. It was totally ludicrous to allow foreign entities to have major control of our imports and food distribution sector
Barbados has much to loose from boycotting Trinidad products and they know that, hence the reason for their behavior.
@Weary Bajan
your comment speaks reality !Some us would like to believe that we are top dog because of our intellect. However old people words ring true “Mother got ! Father got ! but blessed is de child that got he own” So !
my question still remains “Where do we go from here” are we in any position to call the shots? Are we going to continue to let these countries sabotage our plans? what next ?
Dey like how Trini Woman Look Look Look Look Look
Dey like how Trini Woman Cook Cook Cook Cook Cookl
Dey like how Trini Woman Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk
Dey like how Trini Woman Wuk Wuk Wuk Wuk
Wuk Wuk Wuk WUk Wuk Wuk WUk WUk Wuk WUk WUk WUk
‘Cause dey make good company ….!
… no?
This is all becoming so depressing, regressive and scary. All this constant in-fighting, nastiness and tribalism.
I swear I am going to soon move out of this entire region and away from black people altogther – go and live in freakin’ Bulgaria or something.
@Nia
Let not your heart be troubled…there wil be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet
Good grief, how canI forget…the blow out just last week or so of the “new” 737-800 on decent into BGI…what a ting! Any wonder that the ‘investigation’ will be very very quiet, ’cause the “regional safety” record must remain spotless!!
@Nia
Understand your fustration, very much so.
Its interesting how some sections of the media and columnists have very strong positions on Freedom of movement, but the same are quiet or are taking much more nuanced positions on the Red Jet issues. One would think that the cost of moving around the region was one of the major impediments to regional integration, and true regionalists would embrace efforts to overcome this impediment.
To me its the same old same old with integration matters. Countries and interest groups support it when it works to their advantage and block when their interests are threatened.
Some interesting articles here……hmmmmmm…..
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Rocky-start-to-Caribbean-Airlines-Air-J-marriage
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/CAL-cabin-pressure-failure-still-under-probe
Hey, I understand that there will be a special meeting of the regional aviation regulators here in Barbados to look at REDJet safety, management, and other issues. Do you think we should charter a REDJet plane to go specifically to pick them up and bring them to the meeting?
B U’s mention of the year 1962 got my attention on this topic, for Iwas called narrow minded and an Owen basher during a discussion right here in New York once I dared question Barbados’s role in the C S M E. My fear was that we would be expected to shoulder the “mother-load” of responsibility till we we were no longer needed, since experience tells me that for whatever reason the love sent our way from our Caricom partners has always been steeped in disingenuity. The stance of both Jamaica and Trinidad during the quest for W.I Federation maybe forgotten by some ,but still glow vividly in the memory of this mortal being. Tug-a war between Caricom partners has always been as prevalent as marital squabbles,though they differ in consequence ,and may have longer lasting effects on those involved ,this spat simply speaks to the fact that Red Jet represents a threat to an operation that has failed this region since time eternal. Call it Bee Wee . Call it Cal, or simply call it Air Jamaica ,the rightful name is failure. To whom should blame be ascribed? As a boy just twelve years old I stood in Queens Park and listened to my fellow bajans argue that one Bernard Julien was a better alrounder than Garry Sobers(now Sir Garry). Such was the mentality back then . Today forty one years later I say to you “Be not like dumb driven cattle, be a hero in the strife.” Lets all in one voice, Bee as well as Dee tell them that they could kiss BABADOS ASS. Wif or wifout dem WE WILL LIVE.
indeed bgi. they can look at the plane and check the records as they arrive. if they think of anything else they get them mid air
My “tree cents” is that Freundel Stuart is – by far – the most statesman-like politician I have had the pleasure of seeing in the Caribbean since Dipper. The rest are mere yard fowls of the most useless kind. The man keeps his own counsel, carefully considers his position – and when he opens his mouth what comes out is clear, understandable and makes perfect sense, even to the most uneducated of his citizens.
Unlike Jack Warner, he does not babble nonsense just to make noise or gratuitously make himself look stupid, unlike Kamla he does not display the inability to make decisions, unlike Bruce he is not in anyone’s pocket to do as he is told.
I say we should be providing him with words of encouragement and reasonable (NOT wild) suggestions as to how to proceed, and supporting him in whatever decisions he makes, secure in the knowledge that he is not being told what to do nor is he personally pocketing millions for doing so.
In the matter of Caribbean Airlines, after the recent depressurisation Stuart now has enough material to set in place the same “safety concerns” on Caribbean Airlines (and the TT civil aviation authority), to retract their operating permissions into Barbados, and to suggest to other Caribbean Prime Ministers that they do the same.
Let Caribbean Airlines be banned from all airports in the region (except their lackey Jamaica, of course) for a few months and see how loud they can bawl for murder – and see how fast REDjet gets its permissions in to T&T and Jamaica.
As for Trinidad, they are but a single country among hundreds of countries, they are not gods or the only source for goods coming into Barbados. All of the goods we get from Trinidad are also made – usually of better quality and more cheaply – elsewhere. We seriously don’t need them – although we have come to depend or them. Gather a movement and get Bajan merchants to burn and destroy their Trini products on a huge bonfire one night to announce the start of the abolition from Trinidad slavery and overseas masters.
How we go about divorcing ourselves from the Trinidad bullies is our business… for instance, yes, large supermarkets are owned by them, but if we support the locally owned ones then the local ones will prosper and need moire staff, while the Trinidad owned ones will falter and disappear. Jobs come and go, and jobs such as that cannot be exported, they must remain local.
And so on…
Barbadians were bred to be docile, and the rest of the Caribbean knows that and have been exploiting that flaw in the barbadian psyche. The average Barbadian would rather roll over and play dead than defend his honour. Instead of “Pride and Industry”, our motto should be, “A coward dog keeps whole bones”. We seem to stand up for nothing, that is why it was so refreshing to hear our Prime Minister standing up to these bullies.
I remember Rex Nettleford saying, when the slave ships cross the Atlantic their first port of call was Barbados and the planters here took off the best, meaning the most docile slaves. It is therefore no surprise that the Government is currently building a monument to good slaves at Rock Hall, St. Thomas.
The monument at the stomach churning, so called, “Freedom Village” is being erected to commemorate the good slaves from Mount Wilton who refused to take part in what we now call the “Bussa Rebellion”. For being such good slaves they were rewarded by their master with a legacy which they used to purchase land near to the site of the monument. I thought when the Arthur Administration was voted out of office this madness would stop, but unfortunately, the backers have friends on both sides of the political fence.
How difficult is it to understand that Bajans will always be “small islanders” to Trinis,Jamaicans and Guyanese.
It is obvious that you can’t negotiate with Trinidad. Still no fishing agreement.
Now no RedJet in Trinidad
.
Barbadians hate chaos and confusion, we believe in applying a value measure to situations when confronted, then decide based on what is fair.
Some may call it docility, others may call it taking an educated approach.
To our disadvantage sometimes Barbadians love order, to analyze, rationalized apply a value measure etc.
We don’t like chaos or confusion, it is who we are.
As opposed to Trinidadians, who LOVE chaos and confusion. Easier to hide the corruption in, I guess.
How the hell Barbados a little rock in the Caribbean sea whose population could easily fit into a corner of Trinidad gonna play tit-for-tat with Trinidad. Coupled with the fact that Trinidad businessmen controls a large chunk of the economy. People are just getting emotional and talking nonsense about boycotting and de-certifying CAL. With all this talk of national pride, if we had use our free education and build a solid and diversified economy like Hong Kong or Singapore then we could tell our Caribbean cousins to kiss our ass.No, but we continue to think inside the box ,that tourism is the only game in town. To think that Barbados can influence or affect the two big powers in the region is wishful thinking. On the other hand if we were a financial giant on the scale of say Singapore, then our bark would have carry much weight.
@ David
Soft power is what it is called in today’s world.
@weary baje: “Soft power is what it is called in today’s world.
A “mark” is what it was called in the “olden days”….
We cannot do squat to Trinidad without hurting ourselves. Who controls the money supply as well as food importation? He who feeds you controls you. It will get worse due to a lack of long term vision by the persons who could have made a difference. Everything was sold on the pretense we cannot eat money now we have no control of our destiny. When BNB shares where on the market the Credit Unions failed to buy the shares in the said bank where all their monies are held.We will continue to be whipped by our Caricom neighbors who envy our progress and would love to see Barbados fail. Is education a curse or blessing for Barbados. We are just workers in Barbados with a lodging in houses owned by financial institutions.
Well, it was our own politicians who – despite resistance from their constituents and citizens – “knew better” than the rest of us and have happily sold most of our few acres to foreigners – “for foreign currency”, they say.
Instead of treasuring who we are and what we have, we sell what is ours by birth and happily welcome people from around the world to buy or take our property – so we can be second class citizens in our own country and work for them.
To this day there are still advertisements from realtors in Barbados doing their level best to sell property to expatriates (not to locals) – so that Bajans at home and abroad are priced out of the market and will never be able to afford their own.piece of the rock.
But they say in love and politics you get what you deserve… in the Middle east there is revolution because of corruption and unfairness. Perhaps this may yet spread to this part of the world and we may get rid of all the corrupt yard fowls and thieving parasites who call themselves politicians. But I’m not holding my breath.
Old African proverb, “when you borrow another mans legs, you go where he takes you”
This non-sense has to stop, we have to have a Prime Minister who commands attention and respect and who can be taken seriously when diplomatic threats are made, is that PM Fruendel? I think not.
The Redjet saga is a prime example of why some businesses never get off the ground (pun intended). The T&T Gov’t owns CAL does anyone think it is in their best interest to license a competitor to operate in their own backyard? That is the cut throat nature of business and until we understand it we are doomed. Locally when any large fast food operator announces that they are expanding into Barbados the owners of Chefette screams at any politician who will listen to them that the proposed entrant should not be given a license to operate. That is part of the cutthroat nature of business
Barbados among other things is known as the “Land of the Flying Fish”, when a few Bajan fishermen entered T&T waters in pursuit of flying fish the T & T Gov’t promptly arrested them and no amount of hand wringing by the B’dos Gov’t or International Court ruling could persuade T & T to change its mind, if any Bajan fisherman enters T & T waters jail is the result.
Meanwhile if I go to a West Indies grocery store in Toronto or Montreal I can be sure that if I purchase a package of frozen Flying Fish the package will read “Product of Tobago”. This is what I mean by the cut throat nature of business T & T arrests Bajan Fishermen and then establishes a Tobago based industry which sells the product that fishermen are chasing.
But Bajans should not bellyache about Redjet; T & T loves us, they really love us why else would they buy one of Barbados major Financial operations? The one that carries the name of Barbados in its title? Why else would T & T buy the major Business conglomerate in Barbados? One that has “Barbados” in its name? Why else would they buy the major newspaper and one of the major radio stations in Barbados? They really love us.
In one of the recent blogs about one of the Credit Unions it was said that they are awash in funds, does anyone think that if that Credit Union or any Bajan entity for that matter decided to cast its net further ashore and purchase any T & T based operation similar to the ones in the preceding paragraph that the T &T Gov’t would approve?
They love us, really they do.
Has it occurred to any of you or do you ever wonder why it is so that many other Caribbean nations have issues with Barbados and Bajans? Could it be that they are right in their assessments? What a novel thought. Bajans are, by far, the most pompesettin, arrogant people in the Caribbean. Your government keeps perpetuating the myths that Bajans are the most educated people in the Caribbean with the highest literacy rate and while that may have been true 25-30 years ago, it is no longer true. The average Bajan, excepting the elites of course, can’t even read or write up to the standards of the rest of the Caribbean. Your government, such as it is, regardless of party, is corrupt and puts democracy to shame. Your civil service is an embarrassment to both Bajans and visitors alike. Your Police Service does not even make a token effort at policing.
Bajans need to get off their high horse and do a reality check. No man is an island and many of the criticisms leveled at you have substance.
Why can’t Barbados announce that it is in no financial position to continue propping up LIAT? Can anyone in the BU family tell me what are the short-term or long-term benefits of pumping millions of Barbados dollars into this non-profitable airline?
If Trinidad or Jamaica want to play hardball O.K.
First we find all kind of reasons to delay,stop,impede the usual progress of their flights into Barbados.
Next up the ante…Implement a special Tax on all Trini and Jamaican owned businesses,,,(Cover this with Drug related problems that other Countries apparently seem non related)..This can be associated with Land ownership,,Companies owned by them,,etc.,,Reinvestigate citizenship and also cover that up with something like We are reveiwing the status of acquired Barbados Resident,,,Citizenship by marriage etc., etc.,..Turn the screws. Check out Venezuela for some cheap oil(But dont sell your soul)..
I have a funny suspicion that these countries have a whole lot more to loose than Poor Insignificant BARBADOS……….
is seeking every avenue to protect your interest bullying? isn’t protecting the interests of barbados what we are calling on our politicians to do as well? we bajans love a freeness and it seems that the 9.99 fares was like music to our ears but what will be the unintended consequences of a free flying redjet to the region as a whole? would red jet be prepared to service those unprofitable routes now serviced by liat?
Redjet planes cannot island hop, besides their business plan does not in-cooperate such. So complete with Liat for market share would only in routes of T&T and Guyana. Liat don’t service the Jamaica route.
What would be a commonsense move for both Liat and Redjet is that they should both work together to create a seamless travel for anyone booking through any of these two airlines who want to travel to a destination where one of the airline don’t service, making it hassle free for the traveler. AA, BA and other have One World airlines why can’t Redjet and Liat work on an arrangement something along that line. The wheel don’t need to be reinvented, it just need to be adapted our market
@Balance
If we retaliate wouldnt that consider protecting on interest too? What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.We dont want anything free, having to pay lower fares cannot be considered free.
We want to be able to travel around the Region at reasonable cost, with the airlines making a profit and not price gouging and holding us as hostage to high fares.
Why did cal respond to lower fares initially, as well as LIAT. i THINK your non-de-plume should be changed from balance..
Credit to Freundel for speaking up on this matter. We should not be pushed by Bissessar and Golding. Check before your retailate. Your style will work here Stuart, think, analyse then speak and ACT. Barbados has something to lose, so move with care and precision. Don’t take this sitting down Stuart.
@ Whittaker,
Do you know every single Bajan? Yes, there are many Bajans who are arrogant, foolish, and have false pride and like to talk nonsense about other islands and think they better than other islands, etc. But not all are like that.
(BTW, I agree with the literacy assessment. I happen to believe that many Bajans are functionally illiterate and do not realize it).
But in the same breath, you can say the same of other islanders too. I know of Trinidadians, St. Lucians, Jamaicans and others who look down their noses on Bajans and think they are better than us and are very arrogant about it.
Why is it always ok for other Caribbean people to paint all Bajans with the same brush, but when it is done to other islands they cry foul? Jamaicans will never, and rightfully so, tolerate being insulted, etc. because some of their countrymen are involved in illegal activities. But the minute a Bajan says or does something ignorant, the rest of the Caribbean thinks it is acceptable to condemn the entire country.
Oh, and I had the misfortune of visiting a thread a little while back where some Grenadians and Jamaicans were going at it. Vybz Kartel had been banned from Grenada, and the false pride and insults that were being thrown by and at each island were disgusting. But nobody ever talks about that.
And if you into the US, you get people from ALL the Caribbean islands who like to look down their noses at African-Americans. And Africans who look down on Caribbean people and African-Americans, calling them ‘slave stock’ and so on.
And in the UK, Africans who look down on Afro-Caribbeans and so on.
It is all part and parcel of Black people and their continued House Slave/Field Slave nonsense and why frankly I am getting sick to death of the whole lot of us.
This is the time for Barbados to sign on to the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela and stop buying oil from Trnindad.
When it all boils down it clear and simple, they have us by our short and curlies!
Any time somebody starts talking about black and white in such a national conversation they lose my interest. We discuss some national problem and then somebody has to throw in something about black people and white people, slavery and so on. If you are so fed up with the black people/slavery talk then surely you can find something else to say? By bringing it up yourself y7u are perpetuating the very thing you claim to dislike. Get a life, already…
I am tired of the talk
tired og BU
Tired Tired
LETS START A WAR !
Well if you can’t see that many of these “national problems” actually have a historical and socio-economic root….
And if you can’t see that there is almost ALWAYS a common manner in the (negative) way black people in EVERY country in the world (not just the Caribbean) go about solving their problems, as opposed to other groups….
And if you can’t see that the white people in the Caribbean aren’t really squabbling about these issues in the same way that the black people are.
It’s not about bringing up “black people/slavery” for the sake of it. It’s about understanding and learning from our mistakes, and seeking solutions. Unless one prefers confusion and quarrelling just for the sake of it.
Or, when you talk about national priorities you could just address matters of the entire nation and not spit out remarks about the colour of a person’s skin. Whites in Barbados buy the same things – and in the same places – as blacks, whether you like to think of that or not, and there are poor white people living “on the edge” too – whether you like to think of that or not as well.
Try to get over your own supreme importance and seek to achieve a wider perspective – maybe travel somewhere else and see how other people live and fight the same fights for survival and progress. Bajans are not “special” in that respect.
When you hear Americans talking about their national priorities you don’t hear them inserting irrelevant remarks about white or black Americans – try to grow up a little and take your racism talk into somewhere else that may be more appropriate.
In any case, this is certainly not a thread to be discussing that material or those racist perspectives. But that’s just my opinion, and I have the right to cease visiting this thread – and BU, if I so decide – if you continue to make race an issue in an intra-regional discussion.
Anoymuss:
The fact that you need to bring up the fact that whites in Bim do the same things as blacks, and that there are poor whites in Barbados, etc. says more about you than it does about me. Where in my comments did I ever say that this was not the case?
The fact that I mentioned the words “black people” and “slavery” in a particular context, and you would take that and try to suggest that my entire comment was “racist talk” says more about you, than it does about me.
The fact that you would assume I have never travelled anywhere, again says more about you than it does about me.
I responded to Whittaker who suggested that because some Bajans are arrogant towards other Caribbean people, the whole country deserves some of the unfair treatment they are getting at the hands of their Caribbean neighbours. I merely pointed out to him that other Caribbean people do this too, right here and in other parts of the world. And that this is not a new thing for us, and we simply need to understand why we do this. Because I thought the whole point of debate was to get solutions to our problems, not just quarrel for the sake of it.
Yes, all groups are fighting for survival and engage in ignorant tactics. There is no problem that black people have that other groups don’t have. However, the common thread is that many of our problems are usually at a higher rate than other groups. Perhaps if YOU widened your perspective, you would understand this.
You would also know that in America many of their problems ARE actually discussed from a racial perspective.
YOU are the one who decided to take what I said and turn it into a racial diabtribe. Kindly show me exactly where I: “spit out remarks about a person’s skin?”
Again, that you would come to such a conclusion says more about you than it ever could about me.
Finally, if, in your words I need to “get a life”, shouldn’t you just be ignoring me?
funny stuff this… “start a war..” cries Tina Roach, ..well with what ? the prisitine BMWs that the BDF drives around ? you should go back to prediciting the end of the world.and sign up to lead the cavalry.That other idiot CCC : caribe… oh yeah.. better look very very closely at the contracts.. i did ; not as cheap as you think , and besides who wants to be a friend of chavez other than gadaffi. .. smokescreens for a pack of incompetents who are pretending to stand up for something because nothing else is happenning. boycott what ? supposedly our “own” airline that is the core of this discussion had us as a second choice for a hub..imagine that … that is business folks..get over it
Kamla and otherTrinidadians must believe that Bajans are the biggest idiots that God ever punch a bumhole in.
BWIA / CAL have ruled our airspace for ages, never mind it was the Dipper who got Bwee permission to fly into Canada, but REDjet is barred from the Twin Island .The Tobago fishermen want to sell Barbadians flying fish, but are happy to lock up our fishermen if they stray into T&T waters. Now Kamla is offering us a $15 fast ferry from Port of Spain, and if that is not enough, she is still pushing for the multi-million dollar natural gas pipe line to feed BL&P’s generators.
In todays Nation we see the Minister of Trade , Mr Benn lamenting over the neighbouring islands not buying Bajans products. Bajans are not buying Bajans products also, because most of our supermarket shelves are filled with cheaper products out of Trinidad and Tobago.
Yes, the Trinis could be right in their assessment of us.
Signing on to Petro Caribe and obtaining membership of the OECS are looking like more viable alternatives.
Bajans need to buy Bajan products it would make a massive positive difference to our foreign exchange and boost employment. Anyone blind to this simple economic truth wants Barbados to fail regretably there are many among us who dont care if Barbados sinks or swims.
may b it is time that barbados play ball with trinidad and jamaica,all of cal’s flights should b barred from landing at bgi until red jet /barbados is respected then may be trinidad and jam town would smarten up,jamaica must b told that bgi immigration will not accept ja dutty gals coming here to ply their trade.
any way,who told trinidad/jamaica that cal is the air line of the caribbean it certainly is not the air line of barbados.further more did jamaica bar british airways from jamaica when the british authorities would search air jamaica planes from top to bottom and eventually not allowing them to fly there because the jamaicans disrespected their illegal drug rules….oh bruce and coke….oh jack and fifa bribes.
no joa there is nothing wrong with barbados protecting its interests but to be balanced we need to put our emotions on hold if we are to provide balance to important discourse. the question is rhetoric notwithstanding, how can we flex our muscle? most of the major conglomerates in barbados like Shipping and Trading( even though the ink did not yet dry on the sale when mr thompson assumed office) are owned by trinidad and will continue to nuy their goods from trinidad; we need airlift for our tourist market; so i do not see how banning CAL airlines would help our cause. perhaps asCCC suggests we should rethink our decision not to join the PETRO-CARIBE PACTor explore ways to impose some sort of tariff on goods from Trinidad.do not forget too that bajans like cheap prices and are not that patriotic to ignore cheap goods from whereverelse in preference to more expensive goods made locally.
by the way joa- i forgot to ask you what is reasonable costs to travel through the caribbean?
While it would be wonderful to contemplate driving onto a fast ferry in one island and driving off at another, the quoted cost of US$15 sounds rather ridiculous. That is of course unless T & T is contemplating ‘PREDATORY PRICING’. Worth reading on Wikepedia is FAST FERRY SCANDAL later dubbed FastCatFiasco and allowing politicians to get involved in Canada’s British Columbia.
@Loveridge… LOL… That brings back memories.
Those considering “fast ferries” might want to learn some additional lessons…
http://archive.nsnews.com/issues03/w033003/035103/news/035103nn3.html
Please note that the Premier of British Columbia was successfully sued by an Engineer for defamation because the former said that the latter was wrong when the latter said “it won’t work”.
does not $9.99 fares by redjet to guyana elsewhere in the caribbean not sound ridiculos as well mr loveridge and can’t such fares be described as predatory pricing as well? pity that you did not use the same logic when redjet came on to the market with such unsustainable fares to bamboozle the travelling public.
@balance
Do you understand the concept of low budget airline? Google it!
re fastferries,
I really do not understand the objection to ferries, they are the most logical solution to the cost of Caribbean travel….if the sea logistics work.
Quite simply …more numbers = wider base to spread cost = cheaper fares.
As it is, airplanes use a notorious amount of fuel. While ferries use fuel also, the fuel to passenger ratio should be vastly reduced.
In addition, the possibility of a passenger carrying much more cargo (i.e. going to T&T and shopping for nuff clothes etc and coming back the evening) is more attractive than one or two suitcases.
The ONLY logistical stumnling block should be the sea roughness between here and the other islands. Are suitable boats available to do this efficiently?
We do not need one hour boats even, a two or three hour trip that is significantly cheaper is enough.
The businesmen can get airlines for their must have one hour trip.
Sightseers and families getting on a boat at 4am and being in T&T (after customs etc) for 8:30 am downtown POS will be quite good. Then leaving T&T at 5pm and getting out of customs into B’town at 10pm, then home.
We wont be doing it everyday.
The main logistical issues are the sea travel, security /safety and the implementation in each country of suitable customs clearance to make it faster.
However, local businessmen here might not like us going to T&T to buy the cheaper goods.
But, it would give families a chance to see the other islands without having to get a major loan. Lol.
At least do the analysis professionally, do not shoot it down before it starts, if you do that I have to ask…WHY?
We are all missing the point, T&T now owns so much of Barbados, that we have to dance to their tune. Wasn’t this the same T&T that stopped the oil exploration to the EAST of Barbados because it was in their waters? If the EAST of Barbados is in their waters and T&T is to the WEST of Barbados, then it goes that Barbados is ( as far as they believe) in their waters. We have sold all of our main businesses to T&T namely, BS&T, Mc ENEARNEY, Trimart, BNB and the list goes on, seriously, who now controls Barbados? He who rules the finances rules the roost.
@Whittaker ”The average Bajan, excepting the elites of course, can’t even read or write up to the standards of the rest of the Caribbean. Your government, such as it is, regardless of party, is corrupt and puts democracy to shame. ”
—-
I usually do not get into ‘your country is not better than mine’ nonsense, but you obviously have issues.
On the literacy point, that is hogwash, plain and simple. Pity I do not have the statistics to show how many bajans emigrate and end up doing so well in USA/UK and continue to do so, based on the high literacy rate.
On the second point ‘corruption of government’…you gotta be joking..right?
All I have to do is open the international news and turn to football…..LOL.
That is one..next, who is/ was Allen Stanford? That is the next.
Third, who appears to be very close to a recently arrested and extradited drug lord? That is three.
Need I go on?
So, before you start spouting island hatred, bring some facts and focus on the issue at hand, how do we resolve the travel issue.
@Anonymouse ‘Unlike Jack Warner, he does not babble nonsense just to make noise or gratuitously make himself look stupid, unlike Kamla he does not display the inability to make decisions, unlike Bruce he is not in anyone’s pocket to do as he is told.’
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Fair words….also unlike Warner, his mind is on the country, not football too 😉
As for Kamla, great disappointment, but then, she did fight for the PM job, when Dooeran should have been the one to lead them into the prior election.
They back-stab their buddy and longtime leader Dookeran bad, what makes you think they would not stab the rest of us?
please enlighten me david
LLC work by only offering a few seat @ the 9.99 fare. then the fare precedes upwards in price ($10/20 us a time). in LLC they may/maynot cover carryon baggage. If they don’t then you pay extra for it. For all checked luggage you pay extra for it. for food/drink you pay extra for it. for priority boarding you pay extra for it. The main fare isn’t where they make their money, is in the extra the make the money from. They are structure is such that they don’t have excessive cost. they vastly popular in all other region in the world except the Caribbean. Some of them operate some of the biggest airfleets in the world. They go for medium to short haul distance. If anything else you want to know google is your friend . you should use it.
For the fast ferry service assuming 40 knots. you get a travel time about just over 5 hrs. assuming about 30-40 minutes for customs. this of course doesn’t take in account of the Atlantic which could easily force the craft to reduce speed to 30-25 knots which would then mean travel time of 7-9 hrs. To ignore the atlantic factor you would need some large fast ferries then fuel burn to turnover if affected. Remember unlike LLC fast ferry rates are standard so it all of the passenger paying $15 us. Currently the is is 8-9 us to go from trinidad to tobago on fast ferry and that route hasn’t met with much finical success but it they wish to subsidize the cost i think we should exploit it
@Crusoe: “I really do not understand the objection to ferries, they are the most logical solution to the cost of Caribbean travel….if the sea logistics work.
There should be no objections to ferries.
There might be reasonable objections to “fast ferries”, which consume huge amounts of fuel. Please remember that a body passing though a fluid must displace that fluid.
Water is very heavy. The faster a body passes through a fluid the more energy it consumes. Why do you think airplanes travel at such high heights even for short hops?
Separately, why must everything be “fast” nowadays?
@CH,
I quite agree, which is why I noted that businessmen can use airlines if they must, but the rest of us travelling on leisure or even business, can use ferries with a slower timetable.
Point taken on the fuel usage.
The issue that needs to be resolved is Redjet obtaiing permission to travel to Jamaica and Trindad. As the Prime Minister has so eloquently said, we have certified Redjet, and those countries are questionning the abilities and competencies of our avaition authoriity and I have a serious problem witt that.
Further, it is rather strange that Trinidad’s PM could moot a ferry at this time, when she doesnt even want our fishermen to travel to waters under her control to catch flying fish of which they had no interest in for years. Do you really believe.that it will invest in ferry to serve the region?. That country has a history of massive corruption, look at what happened when it expanded its airport, More was stolen than it cost to build the said airport. The mooting of the ferry service it to keep us distracted. So give me my redjet so that i can get my dstination quicker. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN PAMELA’S FERRY., For ion, it had promised to construct a natural gas pipe line from trinidad to barbados and what has happened to that. Both Pamela and Manning have no respect for Barbados AND THINK THAT BARBADAINS ARE STUPID. PERHAPS IT COMES DOWN TO ENVY..
Just only asking
Why should it come down to envy? T&T already owned the better parts of our viable businesses. What they are doing is taking control of Barbados.
“Both Pamela and Manning have no respect for Barbados AND THINK THAT BARBADAINS ARE STUPID. PERHAPS IT COMES DOWN TO ENVY..”
Now what would we have for them to envy? The name is KAMLA AND NOT PAMELA .
We have to get this into our heads, because our national dish is flying fish that does not mean all the flying fish in the Caribbean sea belong to us. If the flying fish is in Tobago’s waters it is theirs and not ours. If Tobago want to process the flying fish and sell to us it is their business. Let us fist put certain things in perspective. Barbadians prefer to see their money in a bank account than to invest it. We cannot have our cake and eat it too. There is no one to blame but ourselves if Trinidad companies buy Bajan ones. Why don’t we invest in Trinidad companies?
@the Scout
What they are doing is taking control of Barbados.
Just in time to stop the Chinese?
A country with no natural resources can continue to do so well irrespective of if the b or d runs it. That what i mean by envy. We have superior infrastructural developments when compared to our oil giant neigbour.
wHIich Adminitration allowed T&T comapanies to dominate our economic landscape?
The point i want to make Islandgal, is the japenese if fish in the caribbean and nobody dare arretst them., but our fishermen not allowed to fish in trinidad’s water unless they pay enormoust fees, that waht people like you call regional intergration..
But can you blame T&T for “second guessing” our ability to maintain a relatively sophisticated aircraft,when this morning on a ABC Highway, a state owned Transport Board bus, yet again, had its rear axle assembly ,including the four rear wheels , completely detached from the chassis and ending up on the other side of the road.
One shudders to think of such happening to a loaded bus while in the hilly St Andrew -St Joseph area. And this has become a real possibility.
This sort of thing never happened when the Transport Board was fully in charge of its own maintenance.