THE FARQUHARSON Institute of Public Affairs has called on the Opposition to use the "parliamentary machinery" to call for a commission of enquiry into the operations of Air Jamaica.
The institute argues that a "full-scale enquiry" is warranted by the burden of billions of dollars which the airline has placed on the backs of the Jamaican taxpayers, the government's role in the failure, its reliance on failed directors to correct the situation and the need for absolute transparency in matters of great public concern.
According to Farquharson, the public needs to know why action was not taken earlier, when it was known eight years ago that the airline was in serious trouble. The Institute noted that on December 21 1996 the media reported that Air Jamaica was seeking to raise US$18 million to shore up its capital base and that in that year alone the airline had sustained losses of some US$70 million. Less than two years later, it was announced that Air Jamaica had amassed $2 billion of debt to government and regulatory agencies.
PRIVATISATION AGREEMENT
Furthermore, the institute noted, the public was told in 1998 that a study by the Ministry of Finance had shown that the entity that had acquired the airline had failed to honour its commitment to inject US$15 million into the business; and that in addition had not paid US$1.9 million, which was part of the privatisation agreement. Not long after that it became known that the airline had failed to pay to the Government considerable sums for travel taxes collected from passengers.
"The institute believes that the public has a right to know why corrective action was delayed and why the airline was not required to publish monthly traffic data, unaudited quarterly financial data and audited annual financial data as do all its North American and European competitors. This is the only way that the public would have been able to track its progress and take action before losses got out of control, the institute says."
The commission of enquiry should be empowered, says Farquharson, to seek information on how Air Jamaica was run and what were the links with Air Jamaica Express and Air Jamaica Vacations. The public should know whether anyone was culpable in the mishandling of the airline's affairs and what steps must be taken to avoid future pitfalls. We must also determine once and for all whether the airline would be more viable as a partner with others in the Caribbean.
