Jack says he would resign if he did anything wrong; says he won't put pressure on PM over CAL board

Jack Warner said on national television Friday he would apologise if he ever did anything wrong.

Speaking on the CNC3 Morning show, the Works and Transport Minister said, "If I have erred for some reason, I would be the first to tell the Prime Minister 'I am sorry', apologise, and go and plant peas in Tobago. I have no problem with that. No office is too big...for me to demit."

He was commenting on the impasse with the board of Caribbean Airlines (CAL) with respect to the firing of Chief Executive Office Ian Brunton and questions about a US$200 million deal to buy nine new planes for the airline.

Warner insisted that he wants "the process to evolve, and explained that he is not trying to put any undue pressure on the Government or the Prime Minister.

Warner has said in the past that the new CAL chairman appears to be interested in scrapping the deal in favour of buying aircraft from Canada's Bombardier. The airline has denied that and has said there are no plans to cancel the agreement.

Warner stated that if CAL cancels the agreement the country stands to lose nearly $11 million, which is the deposit paid for the planes that are to be delivered in 2011.

"If we were to even go to court on it, we may have a serious matter to answer," he said. Warner said experts have told him that the $1.2 billion ATR deal is still the best one.

He maintained that the chairman, George Nicholas, has insulted him. "I will not allow myself to be further insulted by Mr Nicholas or Mr Clovis." Allan Clovis is the Tobago representative on the CAL board.

He also questioned how a board could approve millions of dollars in expenditure when "ministers of Government...can't spend a nickel of taxpayers' money without Cabinet approval." He asked, "How could boards who have to account for billions of dollars don't have to account to the line minister.

"So if you ask me what the QC cost CAL, I don't know. And that is taxpayers' money," he said. "Why wasn't I consulted when they were taking a top-class English lawyer?"

Andrew Mitchcell, a British QC, is representing the CAL board in the lawsuit brought by Brunton for wrongful dismissal. Media reports have stated that his usual fee for a brief is about TT$1 million.