Former CAL chairman says previous board had $900M in bank in 2010

Arthur Lok Jack

Former chairman of Caribbean Airlines Ltd., Arthur Lok Jack told local media Wednesday the airline had TT$900 million in several banks in 2010.

He told the Express newspaper when he and his board of directors resigned following the change of government, the airline was in a healthy cash position and was without debt.

Now the Minister of Finance is reporting that for 2011 the airline had an unaudited loss of TT$339.5 million with its subsidiary, Air Jamaica, showing a loss of TT$245.2 million.

Lok Jack's statement is in conflict with what Transport Minister Devant Maharaj said last week.

The minister said CAL was owing millions of dollars. This included debt to teh Airports Authority and the National Petroleum marketing Company. In addition the CAL had an ongoing dispute over the fuel subsidy that was not settled until the present government took office.

All these factors have contributed to the debt that the airline is now showing in its unaudited accounts.

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

The Express said it saw both the unaudited and audited financial statements for the airline, which indicated CAL's cash reserves at various financial institutions.

Lok Jack said when his board resigned a substantial dossier was presented to Corporation Sole and Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, detailing the airline's cash position.

In their joint resignation letter, the directors said its was "imperative that every effort be made to secure the beneficial position which the airline now enjoys and ensure that it is not put at risk through inaction or errors of judgment".

The resignation letter pointed out that the directors were leaving CAL in a "strong competitive position, and in a healthy cash position with no debt".

Former chairman George Nicholas said the board he inherited had not filed financials for a considerable period and left many bills unpaid.

Read the story: Nicholas says Dookeran didn't explain full details on CAL's finances

Lok Jack told the Express that's not true. "There were audited accounts for 2007, 2008 and at the time we demitted office the audited accounts for 2009 were being completed," he said.

He said the statement from Nicholas is false because for each month, financials were prepared and reviewed by the Audit Committee of the board.