What's the real story on that Bombardier jet?

Arthur Lok Jack must think citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are damn fools.

Earlier this week he said Caribbean Airlines (CAL), of which he is chairman, cancelled a sale and purchase agreement with Bombardier for a luxury executive jet because the Canadian aerospace corporation refused to sign a strict “anti-corruption” clause.

The clause, he explained was something the government wanted to guarantee transparency and accountability.

Well in the first place, the Canadian company had no need to sign such a clause because Canadian law already has such a guarantee. And why isn't CAL or the government not giving us the details of that "clause" so we could try to figure out why Bombardier didn't like it?

In fact, the Canadian anti-corruption laws are so strict no company can get away with doing deals under the table with foreign governments and corporations.

See related story: Canada law has clause to prevent Bombardier kickbacks

Here’s an example. The government in Ottawa is in the process of setting up a public inquiry to determine whether a former prime minister might have been involved in some underhand dealings, including kickbacks from Airbus of France for the purchase of planes for Air Canada.

And in case you think it is a political witch-hunt, the fact is the former Conservative prime minister is under scrutiny by a Conservative government.

Here’s another interesting trivia. Canada ranks number seven on Transparency International’s (TI) index of corruption with a score of 8.9 out of 10. Trinidad and Tobago ranks number 79 on the some index with a score of 3.2. (We used to be at number 44 with a 5.1 score under the UNC regime).

So whom would you trust more for transparency and accountability?

But coming back to Lok Jack.

He is now saying that having cancelled a deal with Bombardier on Monday there is still the possibility that if an executive jet “becomes available” again, Bombardier “may well contact Caribbean Airlines (CAL).” He said it was Bombardier that contacted them about the jet in the deal that just went sour.

But wait a minute. Why would Bombardier come back to CAL?

These people are not car dealers like Neal and Massy. Their client lists includes the wealthiest and most influential people and corporations on the planet. So why would they care so much about petty cash of US$65 million from little Trinidad and Tobago?

Unless, of course, there is something that Lok Jack isn’t telling us and he thinks we are all bobolees like the ones that would get trashed everywhere this Easter.

Perhaps Lok Jack should tell the people the true story - the one that began in the sky over the Caribbean Sea back in 2006.

And didn’t he say on TV that the jet was “under construction”? Well, before you get a jet, you have to place an order, they have to build it and equip it. In takes time.

But, yes, one could “suddenly become available” because a deal fell through right about the time that the client who originally ordered it is in some kind of hot waters and the deal gets cancelled.

Like the one Bombardier built for a certain Nigerian state governor. It was a Challenger 300 – not the fancy Global Express model CAL wants to buy – but still pretty luxurious at US$20 million (one-third the price of the one CAL had ordered).

Well Bombardier cancelled the sale of that plane to Governor James Ibori after Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency complained that payments made on the plane “may constitute proceeds of crime.”

At the time Ibori was under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from US oil and gas companies seeking deals in Nigeria’s wealthy oil sector. Nigeria, by the way, is one of the world’s largest oil suppliers and one of the most corrupt countries in the world, ranking near the bottom of Transparency International’s corruption index.

The story we are hearing is that when Bombardier cancelled the sale it suddenly had a jet for sale. And that it went ahead and sold the plane at a bargain prices of $US20 million back in August 2007, and is just waiting to handover the plane to the new owner.

That transaction took place a few months after Manning’s test flight, courtesy Bombardier.

Well maybe there is a connection there. Suppose that is the jet that might “suddenly become available”?

Perhaps if that is the case Bombardier might offer it to CAL. And then CAL and Bombardier could agree on a price way below the US$65 million and the story would really look good.

Caribbean Airlines and the government could then trumpet the deal as a triumph, one that demonstrates fiscal responsibility, providing a major savings of nearly US$40 million. And they would hope that the citizens would forget that buying a plane is still a reckless waste of taxpayers’ money.

US$20 million is still US$20 million too much to buy for a plane to boost Patrick Manning’s ego.

Think of what that money could do for poor people who can’t afford to buy food and medicine; think of what it could do for people who need shelter and protection from criminals; think of the children who need to go to school.

Come on Mr Lok Jack. Something stinks here.

-Jai Parasram | Toronto, March 21, 2008