These are curious times in the affairs of Caribbean Airlines and the Ministry of Works and Transport. The surprisingly speedy collapse of the relationship between the two has strained professional relationships, created strange bedfellows and left the public understandably curious about what leviathan issues stir beneath these troubled waters. The studious insistence by Works Minister Jack Warner that he has been fundamentally disrespected as the line minister has been matched by equally rigorous denials by the board of CAL. On Friday, the airline's spokesman issued a statement on behalf of the board which sought to refute specifically the allegations by Minister Warner.
The release stated in essence that the airline's chief executive Captain Ian Brunton was fired for matters unrelated to the purchase of new aircraft, that the ATR contract has not been stopped and that the board is seeking professional advice about the purchase. That these matters needed to be explicated via the media and not, more sensibly, between the board and its line minister, speaks volumes about the ruinous state of the relationship between the freshly elected board and the Ministry responsible for its operations. The too-long stalled matter has now begun to attract its own political gun-talk, with Minister Warner declaring: "If I have erred for some reason, I would be the first to tell the Minister 'I am sorry,' apologise and go and plant peas in Tobago."
On CAL's insistence, also communicated via press release, that the board "has not contravened any accepted corporate governance principles," Minister Warner declared: "They don't report to me and what they have said today is that the Minister is a liar." Speaking up for Minister Warner's side of the argument was, of all potential supporters, Opposition Leader Keith Rowley, who noted that after the findings of the UFF Commission and the guidance it offered for public governance, "...We have a situation where a minister of government is telling the country that a state enterprise is operating without the supervision of the minister who carries that portfolio." The Opposition Leader dubbed the situation "unacceptable." CAL Board vice chairman Mohan Jaikaran declared his "love" for Mr Warner but declined any suggestion that he resign. "This will not go on much longer," Jaikaran promised, "Very shortly it will be settled."
CAL lawyer Om Lalla, caught in the pincers of his decade-long legal relationship with Minister Warner and his role as lawyer defending the airline in the legal challenge brought by Captain Brunton, reversed previous statements on the matter and abruptly withdrew from the case, citing a conflict of interest brought on by the "escalating" nature of the conflict. On the face of things, the board's request for more information about the aircraft being commissioned under the ATR contract seems reasonable, but even that presumption holds little water, given the fact that the aircraft contract was reviewed by Cabinet on September 10 and approval granted on September 17. The airline board's suggestion that it is undertaking a further review of the contract that had been given the green light by Cabinet may appear to be highly unusual, even impertinent, to most fair-minded observers.
Clearly, like Udecott before it, this is one state-owned company board with special powers that may even supersede those of the shareholder's official representative. That there is much more in this particular mortar than the pestle being declared on both sides of the argument seems obvious. But it is also true that there is nothing in the declared positions of either Minister Warner or the CAL board that seems insoluble if good sense and purpose met in meaningful discussion. However, the only communications on this issue appear to be coming from CAL's spokesman and Minister Warner with little by way of dialogue taking place between the Ministry and CAL. In the absence of such discussions, we again recommend that the Prime Minister make a decisive and principled executive intervention designed to end this affair before it descends into the kind of bacchanalian soap opera that would damage the airline's carefully crafted public image.