(Trinidad Express) Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller, has said the relationship between Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) and the carrier it acquired in 2011, Air Jamaica, is a “great cause of concern for the Jamaican people”.
Simpson-Miller made the comment while speaking to reporters yesterday at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann’s, in response to questions on the issue.
Finance Minister Larry Howai said in the Senate last month that CAL’s estimated losses for 2012 were US$70 million, of which US$32 million was identified as losses on Air Jamaica’s routes.
He also said the fuel subsidy for CAL and Air Jamaica for 2012 was US$40 million.
“It is of grave, great, great concern for the Jamaican people, I can say that,” Simpson-Miller said. She said she did not have the opportunity while she was in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday to discuss the matter with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar because Trinidad and Tobago was hosting the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, who left for Costa Rica yesterday after a three-day State visit.Guyana’s President, Donald Ramotar, told reporters the ongoing issues with CAL are a cause of concern since the airline is “very important” where transportation to and from Guyana is concerned. “So we’re obviously concerned and we’re looking at it very carefully, and we hope everything will turn out okay for them,” he said.
