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?

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?

@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..

@ 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.

This is the time for Barbados to sign on to the PetroCaribe agreement with Venezuela and stop buying oil from Trnindad.

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…

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

@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.

please enlighten me david

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

@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.

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.

@the Scout

What they are doing is taking control of Barbados.

Just in time to stop the Chinese?

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.