There is no need for threats

Jun 17, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Guyana may have today still been selling rice to Venezuela if a number of Venezuelan passengers were not left stranded in Guyana, because of action taken by local aviation authorities in denying permission for a Venezuelan airline to land at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

There was absolutely no reason for such harsh action to be taken. Guyana therefore had no grounds for complaints when the Venezuelans took action to not renew the agreement which saw Guyana’s rice being sold in that country.
Guyana opted for grandstanding against Venezuela after that country issued a decree which threatened Guyana’s maritime space. Instead of engagement, Guyana opted for diplomatic and political belligerence.
The ordinary Venezuelans were left stranded at our main airport and the Venezuelans retaliated by not renewing an agreement which they always in the past had renewed. Guyana’s rice farmers have today lost an important and lucrative market because of that act of grandstanding.
It is not for the country’s international airport or the Ministry of Public Infrastructure to be taking any action involving that of a foreign country. Any dealings between Guyana and the authorities in a foreign state has to be dealt with through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The reported threat by the Cheddi Jagan International Airport against Caribbean Airlines is therefore totally misdirected, and amounts to a mishandling of the problems facing Guyanese passengers passing through Piarco International Airport.
Apparently, Guyanese travellers to foreign destinations are required to deplane at Piarco and to go through security checks before re-boarding the carrier that will take them to their next destination. During the course of these security checks, it has been reported that the duty- free items purchased in Guyana have been seized.
This problem was raised before with the Trinidad authorities and a resolution promised. But it does seem as if the practice has continued, and this has caused the airport authorities to threaten to cancel the agreement they have with Caribbean Airlines.
This is a reckless and irresponsible action by the Guyanese authorities. It is rash, harsh and extreme. To threaten a regional carrier in this way is unacceptable for a country that is part of a regional integration movement. Things should never have reached this stage. The President should intervene and advise that this is not the way things are done.
If the problem is with Caribbean Airlines, then there should be continued dialogue and discussion, without duress, to try and find a solution. There is no need to resort to threats.
The government cannot be serious about attracting investment when it engages in this sort of cavalier behaviour. It is totally unacceptable for threats to cancel the agreement with the airline to be issued.
Guyana has more to lose than Caribbean Airlines should the contract between the airport and the airline be discontinued. Guyana may be a lucrative route for Caribbean Airlines, but if the plug is pulled on that airline, many local travelers will be left without an alternative.
If on the other hand, the problem is with the airport authorities in Trinidad, then that problem should be dealt with by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If duty-free items purchased in Guyana are being seized at Piarco, then this problem has to be resolved at the government-to-government level, not through threats against the airline.
Caribbean Airlines has security obligations. It cannot compromise on those obligations which may require passengers to disembark while transiting Piarco and be subjected to security checks. The problem may be with the Trinidad authorities and therefore instead of idle threats being made, there should be stronger engagement by utilizing the services of Guyana’s foreign ministry.

One thought on “There is no need for threats”

Quincy Bailey June 17, 2016 at 8:29 am

What is this that is coming from today’s peeper? Are we expected to give away our maritime space? That is the kind of mindset that have us in this quick sand.