Column: Can TT gov't afford $2.3B helicopters?

When Italian defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica announced last year that its Agusta Westland subsidiary had won a contract worth US$348 million (TT$2.3 billion) to supply four AW139 helicopters to the Trinidad and Tobago government the news raised some serious questions.

The most important was whether Patrick Manning was buying the aircraft instead of the private bombardier jet he had planned to purchase for his private use for half a billion dollars.

Related: What's the real story on that Bombardier jet?

The Manning government explained at the time that the helicopters would be used for national security.

The contract documents stated that the four helicopters will be for the use of The Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard (TTAG), a dedicated unit involved in search and rescue, surface surveillance, law enforcement, drug interdiction and disaster relief.

The helicopters were to be part of the country's national security upgrade that included the three offshore patrol boats (OPVs) ordered at a cost of TT$1.5 billion.

The new government has cancelled the contract for the OPVs, explaining that they are not suited for surveillance duties and also stating that maintenance alone would cost taxpayers half a billion dollars a year.

"There are several things that we had to consider. Do we need three OPVs? The country is not at war out in the seas; the country is at war on the ground, in our streets and in the towns within Trinidad and Tobago," Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told reporters on Wednesday.

"The cost to maintain the vessels would have cost taxpayers in excess of $500 million annually. Our country cannot sustain that at this time," she said.

The cost factor and the maintenance issues are also relevant in the helicopter contracts.

The average list price for the AW139 is about US$25 million, which would put the actual cost of the four helicopters at US$100 million (TT$633,000M), leaving the bulk of the contract figure - US$248 million (TT$1.56 billion) for upgrades, training and logistics.

Can Trinidad and Tobago afford that for four aircraft at this time?

Or is it that unlike the OPV deal, it cannot get out of the contract without having to pay hefty penalties?

When the government cancelled the OPV contract it said the UK manufacture was in breach of contract and the Prime Minister told reporters the government would not only have to get a full refund of the TT$1.5 billion, but the manufacturer would also have to pay damages running into more than TT$60 million.

So far all we know is that the new PP government is buying the helicopters for TT$2.3 billion, which leaves us to assume that the new government either thinks the deal is a good one or it knows that it can't pull out of the contract without substantial losses.

The other question is whether these aircraft are really meant for search and rescue and air surveillance.

According to the company's website the primary use of the AW 139 is VIP/Corporate transport.

The company's website states that the AW139 is capable of carrying up to 15 passengers "at very high speed, in a most spacious and comfortable cabin".

The fully-fuelled AW139 can fly for up to nearly six hours at an altitude of 6,000 feet and has a range of 1250 kilometers. It has a maximum cruising speed of 306 km/h, which means it could fly from Port of Spain to Grenada in about 20 minutes and to Barbados in about an hour.

The aircraft are sophisticated and versatile enough for transporting state officials anywhere in the country and on short regional trips but will not be able to handle the long-range flights of the Bombardier executive jet, which the government had contemplated buying.

The company's sales brochure states: "The AW139’s world of refinement is matched by the highest standards in style and comfort. The spacious cabin provides flexibility for the most sophisticated requirements...The AW139’s interior materials are the finest available in the world, selected not only to maintain their beauty and value, but to enhance the experience of flying."

The sales pitch makes it sound like Manning was really buying some fancy flying machines for himself and his officials. Perhaps one of them might have ended up in a private hanger at the mansion, which Kamla has now inherited.

Now that things have changed, should the PP government still be buying these helicopters?

TT$2.3 billion is still a lot of money, especially with a projected deficit in excess of TT$7 billion. Surely the government could find very good use for the extra money.

But then again Kamla may not have much of a choice. It all depends on what the fine print in the contract says.

For now, we will give the government the benefit of the doubt and hope that the helicopters will do the job for which they were purchased.

Jai Parasram - Toronto, 30 Sept. 2010.