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A Discussion About LIAT…flying us where?

This Sunday, the subject is LIAT and Regional Air Transportation. Persons invited to the discussion include myself, Robert MacLellan, Gregor Nassief and Tomas Chiumecky. The Caribbean regional television programme “Time to Face the Facts” is a production of Island Media Communication Inc. with headquarters in St Vincent & the Grenadines, and was successfully launched in…

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LIAT
LIAT, our regional airline.

This Sunday, the subject is LIAT and Regional Air Transportation. Persons invited to the discussion include myself, Robert MacLellan, Gregor Nassief and Tomas Chiumecky.

The Caribbean regional television programme “Time to Face the Facts” is a production of Island Media Communication Inc. with headquarters in St Vincent & the Grenadines, and was successfully launched in April 2013 with the mandate to highlight and deal with issues that affect the Caribbean.

The programme is hosted by Jerry George and is live and interactive on Caribvision the last Sunday of each month, 8:pm to 10:pm [EC time], with rebroadcasts on local stations in various territories. “Time to Face the Facts” is broadcast from the studio of CMC in Bridgetown, Barbados and also streams live on “Time to Face the Facts” Facebook page.

The 23 February edition of “Time to Face the Facts” will have as its topic “Regional Air Transport – taking us where?” with the focus on LIAT, the Caribbean Airline.

(“Time to Face the Facts” has covered Regional Air Transportation before, Capt. Ian Brunton declined attending the previous one.)

This message was sent by James Lynch using the Change.org system. You received this email because you signed a petition started by James Lynch on Change.org: “PETITION FROM THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC TO THE OWNERS OF THE CARIBBEAN AIRLINE LIAT.” Change.org does not endorse the contents of this message.
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50 responses to “A Discussion About LIAT…flying us where?”

  1. Adrian Loveridge Avatar
    Adrian Loveridge

    When I questioned why LIAT had opted for the ATR’s instead of the Q400’s I received lot of criticism. Now read a direct quote from LIAT’s Chairman in the 16 February 2014 Sunday Sun article ‘LIAT pay woes’ –
    ‘The complexity of training every single pilot to fly a new plane has been extremely costly. They have to go to France to be trained…..’

    Surprise! Surprise! You mean they did not think about this BEFORE ordering over ONE HUNDRED MILLION US DOLLARS of new aircraft?
    What a cavalier way Governments have using taxpayers monies.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    @Adrian

    The read concern is how did the LIAT loan request get pass the CDB Board.

  3. Adrian Loveridge Avatar
    Adrian Loveridge

    David,
    do you think the CDB performed due dilligence and would that not have included studying aircraft suitability and related costs?

    Try borrowing $1 million from a commercial bank without producing a feasibility plan or giving them up to ten times the loan in guaranteed assets.

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @Adrian

    President of CDB Warren Smith is a former CEO of LIAT, he should know its operations well.

  5. Adrian Loveridge Avatar
    Adrian Loveridge

    David,
    well pointed out, I had forgotten that. Absolutely NO excuse then!

  6. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    But David, you realize how BAD these revelations are making our whole system of running business look…?
    ….and yet there seems to be no MAJOR INITIATIVE from the authorities to deal with this systemic curse….?

    If Dr. Estwick had come with a presentation that focused on transparency and Integrity,…. and on a new approach to high performance within the establishment of a meritocracy …..he would immediately have 60% of all Bajans on his side ….and full support for any initiatives that he may THEN want to bring …..(including the cloudy UAE funding – provided it passed the scrutiny of integrity and transparency)

    Why do you think there is so little interest in this VITAL change from officials…?

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    We are in a dark place aren’t we?

    What is sad is the silence.from the PM and the lack of leadership and scholarship at play.

  8. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    I’m not sure I should share my theory on air, so I will share it here, with my reasoning.
    Jim Lynch (Capt)

    Trojan Horse theory

    Prior to 2009, Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning indicated that BWIA as Caribbean Airlines would become the regional carrier by absorbing all of the existing carriers – beginning with LIAT. This was a unilateral announcement by Trinidad, and subsequently – probably under some major political pressure from Trinidad to sell – Barbados announced in mid-2010 that LIAT was not for sale.

    I offer that probably Manning had become impatient with the never-ending discussions about a regional airline and decided that Trinidad would go ahead without the others, whether they liked it or not. As the bully of the Caribbean, Manning would have expected the others to do as they were told – as Bruce Golding later did by handing Air Jamaica over to Caribbean Airlines, despite a national privatisation process that had taken two years being thrown into the garbage.

    In 2011 Ian Brunton was a CEO and part of the team which brought Caribbean Airlines to profitability, with considerable financial reserves, yet he was suddenly released as CEO of Caribbean Airlines, and it was claimed by Chairman Nicholas that Brunton had been “fired”.

    For a year nothing was heard of him, and in 2012 suddenly Brian Challenger as released as CEO of LIAT, to be replaced by Ian Brunton. There was no advertisement nor public announcement that Challenger was leaving, nor that Brunton was being considered.

    Challenger was then appointed Ambassador to a South American country, so he was not in anyone’s dog house.

    In 2013 Brunton persuaded the LIAT Board to undergo a complete fleet renewal, and some US$ 100 million was committed by the shareholders to that process.

    The ATR is, incidentally, the same aircraft type that Caribbean Airlines had started buying, at very high cost, and maintenance reliability was so bad they are rumoured to have a staff of engineers from ATR living in Trinidad just to keep them flying. A reasonable implication is that Brunton was preparing LIAT to be taken over by CAL when it went bankrupt.

    Another implication is that CAL did not want to buy LIAT – with its antiquated methods and structure, and its high costs. Better to shut it down as quickly as possible and replace its routes with Caribbean Airlines’ ATRs (and the ones bought cheap from the dead LIAT’s “estate”).

    In late 2013, LIAT had a meltdown of unprecedented proportions, during which the chaos was exacerbated by LIAT (= Brunton) chartering out the badly needed new aircraft while thousands of people remained stranded across the network. Brunton had also been warned that he would be short of pilots, but not only ignored these warnings but is said to have sold two of the Dash-8s as well – working aircraft which could have made a significant dent in the backlog of passengers.

    Brunton resigned, and had abandoned the position and the island within three weeks.

    Suddenly – for the first time in three years – about November 7, 2013 Caribbean Airlines advertised for a replacement CEO, but still not named. It was claimed they had been searching for a replacement the whole time, and to date they still have not named or hinted at anyone.

    That’s my theory, anyway. And, if it is true, then Brunton has done a fine job of killing LIAT for his Trinidadian masters. What will cross the T and dot the I will be his reinstatement as CEO of CAL – OR – appointment to some high position in the Trinidad government. Brunton is also a qualified lawyer (I wonder why he did not sue for unfair dismissal??) and could be useful to the Trinidad government in any number of areas.

  9. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Caswell
    Bushie is hoping that you read the above analysis by bimjim @ 12:11 p.m. and soak in how a proper analysis of facts can be put together to provide a clear picture of a previously murky situation.
    This is the kind of transparency that can change governance for the better.
    Any similar analysis done on a number of other murky conundrums that have eluded our understanding here on BU, would lead us to very similar situations where hidden agendas have been frustrating business in this island and region now for decades.

    Much appreciation is due to bimjim….

  10. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    Bush Tea, what makes the Caribbean waters even murkier is the lack of accounts. The ONLY numbers I could find for LIAT in the relevant past was that the Barbados government paid LIAT US$52 and $55 million (BD$104 and 110 million) in 2011 and 2012.

    I used the 5.7692% increase and the percentage ownerships as a basis of a spreadsheet which tells me that the shareholders will collectively have to pay US$ 1.1 BILLION to keep going over the next 7 years.

    The Barbados share of that will be 50.3%, or BD$ 1.025 BILLION (over seven years).

    So – regardless of which party is in power – do we lay off another 7,000 civil servants to help pay for that regional commitment? Perhaps instead of living in the past and firing the low-income people at the bottom we ought to innovate and start firing high-income people from the top!!

  11. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    The very IDEA that the majority of government run institutions can continue to operate year after year, when NO FINANCIAL REPORTING is made available, ….but where hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be dumped…..has to be one of the most amazing situations conceivable….

    …the NIS, Transport Board, Water Works, most statutory boards, CBC, the whole damn education system – where 1/2 billion dollars go each year….and on and on….

    NO UP-TO-DATE accounts available…… Yet the Boards remain. …Yet the management remains…..yet the financial staff continue to be paid….yet the auditors get paid….

    What the hell!!!

    ….and to cap it all, the Auditor General (he can’t be a Bajan!!..?) is ANNUALLY documenting wastage, losses, weaknesses, and clear malfeasance……

    SURELY such a situation is only even possible – with brass bowls….
    …and wunna wondering why we are broke….?

  12. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    One of the environments where such things can happen is called a “Kleptocracy” – like Nigeria, where the Upper Crust steals everything they can get their hands on.

    I think I would prefer to call our particular situation an “Idiocracy”, though… where nothing – absolutely nothing – makes sense any more.

  13. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @ BIMJim

    That what you have said is sound as Bush Tea has said.

    That one country could go to such calculated lengths to destroy what is a regional airline of such importance speaks directly to the myth of Caribbean unity and CARICOM.

    It also shows how Ingrunt the other governments and shareholders of Liat are when this ambush of Sitting Bull like proportions could be administered against sovereign member states with a care for the national sacrifice that supporting said airlines means to the individual islands

    Quite simply BIMJim I would affix a silencer to a 9 mm and visit men like these nation killers in the middle of the night and act as judge jury and executioner for the murder that they are playing on the lives of hardworking peoples and the ones who are being retrenched weekly

    Sometimes social unrest and the summer of discontent has a place in the affairs of a nation and Boston Tea parties are a necessary evil

    And yes what we need is that BU continues to champion transparency and outspokenness so that people like you, obviously in the know, can come and air the facts for the 95% blind phucking mice to see whAt is going on here.

    Of course people like alternating current will not understand an iota of what you have shared but she is to be forgiven her DNA men like Ian Brunton cannot

  14. pieceuhderockyeahright Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright

    @David [BU]

    Ian Brunton LIAT Desmond Brunton Caribbean Development Bank

  15. David Avatar
    David

    Isn’t Brunton (CDB) retired?

  16. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    pieceuhderockyeahright, what I put forward was a theory, based on my life’s understanding of the Trinidadian psyche, statements made in public, past events and endless new articles.

    I can understand that Patrick Manning would become frustrated at the endless political mouthings at all of the HoG summits and never any action, but what I cannot condone is one country taking unilateral action action – whether other countries like it or not – and in this case in an environment where there is an economic community and we are all supposed to be helping each other.

    Except that Trinidad is helping only itself – and if you believe that all the investment in the other islands is “helping”, think again and take a look back at how the mighty Barbados Shipping And Trading we used to be so proud of has been decimated and picked apart.

    There is no doubt in MY mind that my theory is true, and I also support my view by pointing to the signing of regional Treaties and Agreements INSIDE TRINIDAD, and the very next day that country is back to “business as usual” – working as hard as they can to export goods to us while at the same time making it as difficult as possible for us to export goods back to them.

    In aviation, I would agree that yes, REDjet did not follow the full and comprehensive application process to access the Trinidadian market, and we understand that it was a rising competitor to Caribbean Airlines, but the adverse reaction of the Trinidad Authorities was beyond any reasonable expectation. If Barbados had done the same kind of thing to Air Caribbean, or Tobago Express, for instance, there would have been diplomatic uproar and political ramifications.

    As it was, REDjet hit a brick wall both in Trinidad and at home in Barbados, and we already know the ending.

  17. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    Bimjim
    You see if Bajans would become more demanding in pushing for a Public Accounts Committee that has teeth and bite,they would know exactly what is going down with the taxpayers monies.
    I have certain knowledge of a local company shipping cooling systems to Trinidad in the 80’s and up to this day,do not have a cent to show for its efforts.That company went out of business as Trinidad was a major market.We are aware of Pine Hill Dairy and recently Baks Breweries having considerable difficulty in accessing the Trinidad market.Of Jamaica having difficulty selling their favoured Patties to Trinidad.
    I cannot see what I am typing but I would love to comment on this topic some more

  18. pieceuhderockyeahright!!! Avatar
    pieceuhderockyeahright!!!

    It is time to accept that LIAT, like CARICOM is dead and for each of its member states to move on their separate paths.

    The microcosm LIAT cannot fare better than its macrocosm and template CARICOM

    The Landel Mills report seen at http://www.caricom.org/Restructuring%20the%20Secretariat%20-%20Landell%20Mills%20Final%20Report.pdf speaks to the glaring inefficiencies and the wastage that this old boy network epitomizes.

    Maybe Hal Austin or others within the BU family could take some time to review it and distil it for simple old men like myself to unnerstan’

    For US $13M the Secretariat seems like a collosal waste of time and LIAT which is a creature controlled by the same member states fares no better.

    BTW i wonder if dem fellows Stoneman, Pollard and Inniss does get mo’ wuk from de CARICOM peeples after chopping dem up so?

  19. ac Avatar
    ac

    first LIAT needs a good house cleaning from top to bottom…… REplace the name LIAT .. specialize in branding its product and tie it to firstclass ,,performance. downsize ,,,,,hospitality and customer care must be a priority,,,people tend to overlook mechanical problems and understand,,,, but hate when they are lied to and push aside ,,,i got a couple brooms would do the house cleaning for free,,,,no strings attached,,,,govt must put a moratorium on spending unless the shareholders,,,knows firsthand where the money is going and how it is spent….. too much budgetary cost overruns and nothing to show ,,except unhappy customers ..

  20. David Avatar
    David

    Fire Them! Union wants Liat Heads to Roll Posted on: February 19, 2014 by Caribtime News

    It’s time to get rid of LIAT’S top brass. That’s the call from union boss Senator David Massiah, who said that the latest delay in payment for LIAT staff was just in another in a series of foul ups by an inept management team.

    Senator Massiah, the General Secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU), which represents most of the LIAT workers, made the call yesterday during his contribution to the 2014 Budget debate. The Government appointed senator, told fellow parliamentari-ans that for too long, the airline’s management has been making a series of decisions that are not only reckless, but which put the financial viability of the airline and the jobs of hundreds of workers at risk.

    “We know that there will be some turbulent times, but that has nothing to do withthe (Antigua and Barbuda) government, I thinkit’s time we look at the management team. I am standing here calling for an immediate audit of the management team that would lead to the removal of the top managers at the airline,” he declared.

    This month’s delay in salary payments is the third in the last four months, starting in November last year. Affected are close to 200 flight Wednesday 19th February 2014 crew, operations and engineering staff who were made aware of the development via email last week.

    Against this background, a clearly emotional Massiah made clear that enough was enough and it was time for the airline’s senior managers to go. “Remove them!” he shouted. The union boss laid the blame for much of the problems at LIAT on the poor decisions of the senior management team which he said has taken the Antigua-based airline to the precipice of disaster.

    Massiah recalled that in 2012 he was part of a team of union leaders who journeyed to Barbados to meet with the shareholders of the airline. He said the union officials presented a letter detailing a list of woes at the airline. “We indicated at that time that the man agement was going awry by making decisions that were hurting LIAT and to this day they continue!” Massiah declared. He announced that he has already put Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer on notice that the union will soon dispatch a letter to his office chronicling a litany of bad decisions taken by management at LIAT, including the recent development of late payments of salaries.

    According to Massiah, the shareholder governments are not to be blamed for the latepayment problems at the airline. He noted that all the shareholder governments are themselves experiencing economic difficulties which meant that the sub- ventions may not have arrived on time.

    “There are challenges with the governments yes, but the problems have much to do with the re-fleeting exercise undertaken by the airline that has been handled badly and which has costs the airline millions of dollars extra because of poor planning,” he stated.

    The ABWU official reported that the airline management did not plan properly for the exercise and this led to the chaos last year when scores of flights were cancelled that forced to airline to spend huge sums of money put- ting up stranded passengers at hotels across the region.

    Massiah also referred the ‘ruckus’ the union caused when it was reported that LIAT was moving staff from St John’s to Bridgetown, but said that much of the problems could be traced to that decision when six key personnel were transferred to Barbados.

    He said these individuals possessed critical skills and experience and their transfer had resulted in a myriad of problems now affecting the the airline’s flight schedule.

  21. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Bush Tea | February 22, 2014 at 1:36 PM |
    “The very IDEA that the majority of government run institutions can continue to operate year after year, when NO FINANCIAL REPORTING is made available, ….but where hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be dumped…..has to be one of the most amazing situations conceivable….”

    …the NIS, Transport Board, Water Works, most statutory boards, CBC, the whole damn education system – where 1/2 billion dollars go each year….and on and on….”

    Well said, B T!
    Also, your take on Bimjim’s incisive contributions is very complimentary and well meaning. Certainly not a BBB (Bajan brass bowl) in your estimation. (LOL!!!)

    My question to you though, Bushie, is how can the despicably horrific situation identified above be resolved? The legislation that undergirds the operations and financial reporting of those State owned entities mandates that financial accounts are prepared annually and submitted to the parent ministry and to be laid in Parliament by a specified time.

    A classic example is that of the NIS; an entity responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of ‘forced’ savings of the working population. Despite all the promises made by the previous chairman and the incumbent one nothing has been done to meet the fiduciary responsibilities of the Board.
    One can only conclude there have been instances of massive fraud that have been taking place at that nationally strategic financial organizations for many years now.
    Yet these men and other Board members remain as part of the local kleptocracy and admired in the halls of academia.

    I have proposed the privatization of (and outsourcing to less politically tarnished agencies) many of those entities to make them more efficient and the management more responsible to owners.
    You keep suggesting your idealistic politically controlled BUP.
    Which one do you think would float in the coming months?

    As for LIAT, it will never be run properly unless top management preferably with a completely different racial hue are sent from overseas to run the local pappy show.
    You guys see Dr. Fred’s contribution as a solution to your economic woes why not invite a similar management guru to run the LIAT circus?

  22. ac Avatar
    ac

    call in a first rate accounting firm..let them do the inventory on LIAT and accounting books,,,,,start from there heads would start to leave rolling out the door before being asked to leave,,, but Fuh god sake change the Name,,,LIAT

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @ac

    Have you been following the discussion? It is a strategy and management issue.

  24. ac Avatar
    ac

    DAvid the question do u understand the root and rot causes of the inefficiencies that goes beyond management and strategy,,,,,,Start with getting an first hand accounting which would tell the story on how and why the company is being mismanaged,,, no sense in replacing one set of empty vessels with another,,,

  25. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ ac
    Hush do!

    @ Miller
    “My question to you though, Bushie, is how can the despicably horrific situation identified above be resolved?”
    ++++++++
    The answer is so easy and obvious that this is probably why it has eluded us…..

    The role of elected politicians should be restricted to governance and should be TOTALLY voluntary with reimbursement of approved expenses only. ALSO, any acceptance of ANY gift by any one of them should result in immediate public dismissal.

    PROFESSIONAL management should then be hired to run each one of these national bodies and held to strict ethical and professional performance standards – as currently happens in most private organizations….OR FIRED.

    How can this be done VERY EASILY?

    See David’s 10 point plan via the link on BU……

  26. David Avatar
    David

    @ac

    Maybe you may understand if phrased like this: bad accounting is a function of poor strategy and management approaches.

  27. ac Avatar
    ac

    david that is why a called to clean house must involved outside clearance involving credible accounting firms to looked into how the overall financial affairs one which can point point the problems and possibly give suggesting or solutions to where the areas of mismanagement should be addressed..,,,,,,everybody body believes that poor management is a big problem but there maybe a myriad of reasons coupled with govt involvement or lack thereof ..getting to the root that is all i am calling for ,,,not just throwing good money over and over again after bad,,,

    bushie leave me alone, don’t u have a wife……..

  28. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    Over the years – in my time – LIAT has had MANY opportunities which were wasted, either squashed by political demands or just pure stupidity – I guess there are some who would tell me I did not have all the facts, and I would agree, but you cannot watch a Jackass throwing dollar coins down a drain hour after hour, month after month, year after year, without at some point asking whether there is not something wrong with this picture.

    FOR INSTANCE, it is a fact that years ago PM Manley asked LIAT to operate from Antigua through San Juan onwards to Kingston and link up the islands. At the time I was Secretary of LIALPA, and the Association was asked to extend our contractual duty time limitations (which are lower than the legal limitations) to accommodate the innovation. This is not something I dreamed up or heard as a rumour.

    Nothing came of it, and later I ‘asked a question” of the LIALPA Chairman, and he told me that BWIA, through T&T, had put a stop to it because they claimed that Kingston-Antigua was THEIR route and nobody else was to operate it.

    Less than a year later BWIA chopped the route, and – to my knowledge – has not operated it since.

    As a LIAT crewmember I once heard a rumour – yes, a rumour – that back in the ’80s Air France wanted LIAT crews to operate their jet aircraft from Cayenne and Suriname up through the French islands to Miami. Nothing came of it (this was before Air Antilles, Air Caraibes or any regional French airline aside from Air France)

    So I would agree with the comments above about moving LIAT management… but please throw the Board out with them as well.

    A Board is appointed as people who know the business intimately, and are expected to use their influence and knowledge to lead the airline forward. The Board is where the FUTURE of the airline lies, as well as the overall MAJOR decisions.

    The CEO is the one supposed to be running the day to day operations of the airline and ensure that it is run smoothly and efficiently.

    The CEO is NOT – repeat NOT – supposed to carry out the functions of every position above him/her as well as several of those below him/her as well (as is the case with LIAT now), and with Brunton (and others before him) we definitely had that situation.

    As I intimated above, I think Brunton had a different agenda and because he was able to completely fool the Chairman and his sidekicks and propose a new line of operation to the unqualified Board he was able to lay waste to LIAT for his Trinidadian masters.

  29. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    FYI – For non-Facebook users that streaming discussion tonight will also be available from this link… 8 to 10 EC time, 7 to 9 Eastern time, 2400 to 0200 GMT.
    http://webinarjam.net/webinar/go/2345/be25c483a8

  30. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    Bushie, we have to agree to disagree on your “role of elected politicians”.

    It is human nature (mostly, anyway) not to do things for free, and if you get volunteers to do so they will be mostly from one of two camps – those who are so rich they have lost contact with reality, and those who will do it for free because of all the kick-backs and corruption they fully intend to participate in.

    Neither is democracy.

    Let me suggest that politicians are selected by the people for their character, their honesty in the community, and their “reasonableness”. Let us shout down those who make the wild promises we see these days that none of them even plan to carry out.

    And enough with professional politicians, limit all participation to three terms, including all representation, whether at the parish or Prime Ministerial levels. Let them come into politics and then be removed by the law of the land… and go back to the career they left to put in their time of dedicated service to the people of the country.

    Their remuneration should be the same as a Permanent Secretary plus 10%. That should keep them in their mortgage and expenses, as well as grounded to reality.

    I do agree with malfeasance, but I would agree with that for anyone, anywhere, not just in government. Anyone caught taking bribes or kickbacks should lose their position forthwith.

    Finally, there should be an Ombudsman keeping track of all the fine promises made to the people for votes… for each election promise not fulfilled, they should lose 10% of their final annual paycheck at the end of their final term. “Things changed” and “The conditions were not quite right” are not valid excuses… if you cannot guarantee your loud blatherings for political gain then you should feel some consequences when it is all over.

  31. Artaxerxes Avatar
    Artaxerxes

    For example, a flight from Barbados to Anguilla: Feb 23, 2014 – Mar 03, 2014

    Barbados US$238 BD$476
    Taxes US$98.60 BD$197.20

    Anguilla US$238 BD$476
    Taxes US$79.40 BD$158.80

    Total return airfare = BD$1,308.00

    Check out the taxes = BD$356.00

    [Source… LIAT web-site]

  32. David Avatar
    David

    @Artaxerxes

    Can’t blame LIAT about the taxes, in many of the small EC airports tax revenue from LIAT servicing in the only revenue.

  33. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ bimjim
    We can agree to disagree, however it is clear then, that you are completely UNAWARE of the local (billion dollar) credit union movement. A movement which has grown from practically nothing in 1980 to its present state – on the backs of exactly such VOLUNTEER Boards of Directors.
    NOTHING has been as successful…..indeed, were it not for the ongoing attempts of numerous political lackies who think that it is possible to bring their political selfishness to the movement ….the cooperative model would have been at least twice as impactful as it currently is…..
    They only get exposed and ejected of course (especially when Caswell was kicking…)….but it retards the growth of the movement.
    If some of the visionary leadership of the 80’s had stayed and grown in stature it would have been a sight to behold…..
    You see….BECAUSE there is little money involved, and TOTAL TRANSPARENCY….people do it as a SERVICE….and as a means of SELF-DEVELOPMENT…..a truly win win scheme… AND IT WORKS

    As to LIAT, the politicians just see LIAT as a convenient tax collection platform. They will just milk it until it is dead and then run begging the white people from Europe (or UAE) to come and set something else up for them to milk….

  34. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    Politics – in the ruling party – is a full time job. You cannot expect honest people to starve because they are representing the People.

    Such financial stress breeds dishonesty – exactly the opposite of what the People need at the top.

    If you want to pay nothing, then restrict civil political service to a single term of one year.

    Perhaps a constantly revolving door may get results, but (IMHO) no real and lasting long term planning with be either discussed or achieved.

  35. balance Avatar
    balance

    “If Dr. Estwick had come with a presentation that focused on transparency and Integrity,…. and on a new approach to high performance within the establishment of a meritocracy …..he would immediately have 60% of all Bajans on his side ….and full support for any initiatives that he may THEN want to bring …..(including the cloudy UAE funding – provided it passed the scrutiny of integrity and transparency)”
    A lotta fallacious and meaningless verbiage seemingly to beliitle Mr Estwick. What transparency and integrity and new approach to high performance you talking about when you have consistently preached the “we like it so ” gospel.

  36. Georgie Porgie Avatar
    Georgie Porgie

    re As to LIAT, the politicians just see LIAT as a convenient tax collection platform. They will just milk it until it is dead and then run begging the white people from Europe (or UAE) to come and set something else up for them to milk….

    The same can be said about the offshore medical schools which offer very little to the host islands except perhaps a few “long stay tourists.”

  37. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ off balance

    Preached the we like it so gospel????
    Are you some kinda off balanced ac?
    Like what so???
    …has anyone made more proposals for change than Bushie?
    Steupsss
    How does it put Dr Estwick down to suggest that he could have focused on bringing a level of HONESTY to politics? …if Bushie wanted to be negative he could ask why propose a new credit card account to solve a credit crisis…?

    You like you having problems with your center of gravity yuh…!

  38. Bimjim Avatar
    Bimjim

    Apparently nobody watched the live broadcast?

  39. David Avatar
    David

    Do not know about others but all the BU household saw on the screen was ‘wait starting soon’ and it never did.

  40. ac Avatar
    ac

    Balance don,t pay BT any mind he doesn,t read nor understand anything anybody says not even himsel just one arrogant controversial jerk prides himself on being a contrarian …dont expect any too much from an overthe hill neanderthal .. He even advocate that politicians should work free solving other peoples problem .hisass need kicking back to the cave from whence he came… signed ac

  41. David Avatar
    David

    @ac

    Bush Tea is one of the more intelligent contributors to BU. It does not mean we have to agree with every iota. The problem with you it becomes a personality thing.

  42. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    I got fed up waiting for channel 109 to bring that LIAT feature.In so doing I caught the tail end of an interview with the Dominican Ambassador to the US with moderator Derrice.The gent was passionate,polished,articulate and erudite.No wonder.He said he studied anthropology and worked for Unesco.
    Then seeing the Statia fill- in,one felt at a loss why we do not see the value of a Union of Caribbean States,sharing overseas missions and facilitating inter island trade and commerce

    .

  43. ac Avatar
    ac

    David | February 24, 2014 at 10:52 AM

    @ac

    Bush Tea is one of the more intelligent contributors to BU. It does not mean we have to agree with every iota. The problem with you it becomes a personality thing.

    |””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

    btw david what ;s your problem……………………………………and with whose yard stick did you reach such an assessment,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well u know what i couldn’t care less…………..steupse…’

  44. David Avatar
    David

    @ac

    The feeling is mutual.

  45. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    Awe!
    ….you are so kind…..and to a humble, undeserving bushwhacker….
    Man just for that, Bushie will be nice to ac…for at least two weeks….

  46. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    I just got the link myself…

    I’m afraid look like a bit of a dork in constant freeze-frame, and there was also a HUGE amount of internet noise in the earphone almost all of the time which added to my discomfort and lack of concentration – I am looking down much of the time changing the volume to either reduce the noise or increase the volume to hear what is being said through the noise.

    But the final recording is much better than it was for the last one.

    They tell me they have had a huge positive reaction, and even some negative reaction – I guess some people don’t like to hear the truth (which is to be expected).

  47. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    And yes, it started late. Even though we did a full test on Saturday and everything was apparently OK.

    I signed in 15 minutes before the broadcast time, was cut off and had to sign back in five or six times, and they were still fighting up with technical issues. Eventually somebody started a countdown and we went on about half an hour late. One guest never was able to sign in – Tomas – and I had to send him the link so he could see it.

  48. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    Dominica hotelier urges Gonsalves to step down from LIAT
    http://www.craneforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=17029

  49. bimjim Avatar
    bimjim

    Venezuela collapsing:
    PetroCaribe: Are Caribbean countries prepared for the worst?
    http://www.craneforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=17031

  50. David Avatar
    David

    Ladies and Gentlemen…

    It is very clear from the shareholders’ very recent decision for the Board to now “look at” solutions with un-named :”experts” over the next 100 days that there is no turning back or major change coming to LIAT any time in the near future.

    Dropping destinations does not solve the huge losses problem, and nobody is going to put their money into an airline that is basically a bottomless money pit with all change being resisted.

    In fact, I would suggest they are hoping that over the next 100 days their threats of chopping destinations will get other governments to cough up some contributions. And that is not going to happen.

    So it is with no small personal distress I accept that neither this Petition nor any other factor will change the fact that LIAT will be gone in the near future – we believe at most 2 years, but that is much more likely before the end of this year.

    So I will be closing this Petition, because it has obviously made no difference – just as calls for major change from industry experts and businessmen regionally and around the world have gone totally unheeded.

    Seriously, I doubt they would have taken any notice even if we had collected two million signatures here.

    I do thank you for your support, and I assure you that each and every one of the 362 sign-ups also sent an email to each of the Prime Ministers involved.

    I will continue to do my best in the Caribbean aviation industry, and hopefully you will hear my name again in the not-too-distant future.

    Best wishes, and thank you again…

    James C. “Jim” Lynch (Capt.)

    This message was sent by James Lynch using the Change.org system. You received this email because you signed a petition started by James Lynch on Change.org: “PETITION FROM THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC TO THE OWNERS OF THE CARIBBEAN AIRLINE LIAT.” Change.org does not endorse the contents of this message.

    View the petition

    Unsubscribe from updates about this petition

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