Devant stands up for CAL; says former administration created much of the debt problem

Transport Minister Devant Maharaj is standing up for the former chairman of Caribbean Airlines Ltd. (CAL), saying that George Nicholas III is being made an "unfortunate scapegoat" for CAL's debt.

On Friday, Finance Minister Winston Dookeran said that CAL recorded an unaudited loss of TT$339.5 million for 2011 and its subsidiary, Air Jamaica, had an unaudited loss of TT$ 245.2 million.

Nicholas said in November last year he expected a profit of $200 million based on sales figures and the advice received from management. Maharaj said on Saturday Nicholas "erred" in using unaudited financial statements to make that declaration.
Maharaj was speaking during the opening of the Vehicle Management Corporation and the National Energy Skills Centre workforce assessment centre at Beetham.

The minister said the only debt of concern was the US$8.1 million owed to the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (AATT). He explained that much of that debt was inherited.

"The government met a significant amount of debts incurred by the previous administration," Maharaj said, noting that the same applied to many other agencies such as the Water Taxi, HDC and UDeCOTT.

"Monies owed by CAL to the AATT is as a result of an issue unresolved since 2007 by the then PNM-controlled boards. This has been one challenge the Ministry of Transport has been grappling with to resolve due to the former administration's refusal or inability to resolve the 2007 issue," he said.

He said the other debts mentioned in Parliament Friday are "simply current liabilities of CAL or recurring debts as would obtain in any other normal business operation".

Maharaj charged that Opposition Leader Keith Rowley has been attempting to mislead the population by saying that the company in a precarious financial situation.

He said the previous administration committed CAL to bear "significant costs" in the takeover of Air Jamaica.

"What is critical is that the genesis of financial state of CAL be examined so as to rebut any evidential presumptions made by the public that it was the two-year-old PP Government responsible for the debts and losses made by CAL.

"It was only in November 2010 a board was appointed. It was a number of decisions made by the past administration without any consultation or future thought which has placed CAL in this situation and has now been left in the laps of this Government to resolve," he said.