(3) The interest of the Government is not only to terminate the drain on the public purse but to ensure adequate and sustained airlift on those routes that are required by Jamaican travellers, the Jamaican Diaspora and the tourist industry. The Government must, therefore, have reason to be confident that the successor to Air Jamaica will be in a position to adequately maintain these routes since under no condition can there be any recourse in the future to public funds to support its operations.
(4) Free of all its debts which the Government will have to absorb, Air Jamaica's routes on which it carried 1.1 million passengers last year have a value which, in any privatization, must be treated as an asset and secured for the benefit of the people of Jamaica. We cannot be expected to assume all the debts and give away the rest for free.
The Government understands the emotions that are aroused in determining the future of Air Jamaica. All of us share the pride that those colourful airplanes evoke whether we are seated in one of them or watching from the ground as they soar to their wuthering heights. But that pride has come at a huge cost - $126 billion over the last 40 years, $31 billion over the last 3 years - and it has helped to deprive us of the pride we should have been able to have in seeing our children go to good schools and the sick to good health facilities. We have to get our priorities right!
The Government does not intend (because it will not be able) to provide any financial support to Air Jamaica beyond this financial year which ends in March. Time is, therefore, of immense essence.
I will report to the House in due course on the outcome of the current negotiations with Caribbean Airlines. -
PM Bruce Golding -
Statement to Parliament by Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister on the Privatization of Air Jamaica
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - Copyright © 1996 -2007, Jamaica Information Service, All rights reserved.
Tel: (876) 926-3590-8/926-3740-8 Fax: (876) 926-6715 e-mail: jis@jis.gov.jm
(4) Free of all its debts which the Government will have to absorb, Air Jamaica's routes on which it carried 1.1 million passengers last year have a value which, in any privatization, must be treated as an asset and secured for the benefit of the people of Jamaica. We cannot be expected to assume all the debts and give away the rest for free.
The Government understands the emotions that are aroused in determining the future of Air Jamaica. All of us share the pride that those colourful airplanes evoke whether we are seated in one of them or watching from the ground as they soar to their wuthering heights. But that pride has come at a huge cost - $126 billion over the last 40 years, $31 billion over the last 3 years - and it has helped to deprive us of the pride we should have been able to have in seeing our children go to good schools and the sick to good health facilities. We have to get our priorities right!
The Government does not intend (because it will not be able) to provide any financial support to Air Jamaica beyond this financial year which ends in March. Time is, therefore, of immense essence.
I will report to the House in due course on the outcome of the current negotiations with Caribbean Airlines. -
PM Bruce Golding -
Statement to Parliament by Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister on the Privatization of Air Jamaica
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - Copyright © 1996 -2007, Jamaica Information Service, All rights reserved.
Tel: (876) 926-3590-8/926-3740-8 Fax: (876) 926-6715 e-mail: jis@jis.gov.jm
Aaaaahem?
The interest of the Government is not only to terminate the drain on the public purse but to ensure adequate and sustained airlift on those routes that are required by Jamaican travellers, the Jamaican Diaspora and the tourist industry.
The Government must, therefore, have reason to be confident that the successor to Air Jamaica will be in a position to adequately maintain these routes since under no condition can there be any recourse in the future to public funds to support its operations.
We cannot be expected to assume all the debts and give away the rest for free
It would be hard to find another PM....a nedda bredda chat so much s@#$%^&&^^$3t!
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