Dennie Quill, Contributor

Readers from far and wide responded to my recent column titled 'Air Jamaica forgetting its mission', which criticised the airline's participation in a wedding promotion in Barbados. Most of the responses were constructive and valid. However, others have foolishly used adjectives like 'xenophobic' and 'hubristic' to describe my concerns.

Captain Ian Grant, presumably an Air Jamaica employee who claims superior factual base and analytical skills, said my arguments fell down on assumptions so he laid out the facts for me.

Fact one, Air Jamaica is the national airline of Barbados. The goodly captain said it was so designated by Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, head of the now defunct Air Jamaica Acquisition Group (AJAG). Parroting such idiocy long after AJAG has ceased to exist makes it easier for some people to digest.

I don't understand what this designation means in airline parlance, but as a Jamaican taxpayer, I understand what it means when the Parliament is called on repeatedly to inject new capital into a failing airline. Next time Air Jamaica needs more money, as it is bound to, we should make the case to Barbados and see what happens. A little reciprocity between Bridgetown and Kingston, perhaps?

Mandate to be profitable

The other fact from Captain Grant is that Air Jamaica has a mandate to be profitable. Hello? Every well-thinking Jamaican recognises this as a pipe dream. Blindly repeating what officials say does no reality. Air Jamaica stands the slightest chance of being profitable in our lifetime. Therefore, if Air Jamaica is not to betray its own interest its raison d'etre is to take traffic to Jamaica. It ought not to be engaged in diverting prospective visitors away from Jamaica by participating in promotions that compete with our product. That's enough about Air Jamaica.

This week I had one of those 'I don't know what to make of this' moments listening to BBC news reporting on a plan to convert cemeteries in Britain into places for the living and not just the dead. A lobby group of British architects called on urban planners to build visitor facilities and walk-ins in cemeteries to encourage people to explore and exercise in these facilities, which are usually spread over many acres. One cemetery director spoke about erecting a café on one of these grounds.

I started thinking about the enormous historical value of cemeteries, including some of our own. Cemeteries in Port Royal and at the Jamaica Defence Force grounds, Up Park Camp, come to mind and they ought to be listed among our national treasures. We must do more to exploit their historical value.

Taboo against cremation

Privately owned cemeteries tend to be better kept than public ones. Many public cemeteries languish in squalor as maintenance costs are high and the resources are never enough. But there has to be a way to deal with our dead with dignity.

Despite the cost of burials and real estate, there still exists a taboo against cremation so cemeteries and burial grounds will exist for many years to come. The last thing on the 'to-do' lists of parish councils is perhaps cemetery upkeep.

I once read about a judge in the United States who sentenced a reckless driver to two years of maintaining the grave of his victim as part of his punishment. Not sure that would work too well in Jamaica. Maybe parish councils should be looking to privatise cemeteries and allow businesses to recover their costs through innovative methods. For example, there could be organised tours of cemeteries. The operators could establish kiosks selling flowers and other items which visitors could place on the graves of their loved ones.

At the famous Laurel Hill cemetery in Philadelphia the Titanic Day festivities continue to attract sold-out audiences. Here where six victims of the Titanic are interred, there is an annual celebration, including a nine-course meal served by butler, dubbed the last supper aboard the ill-fated liner.

In urgent search for money to fund restoration, Laurel Hill and other cemeteries are rebranding themselves as destination necropolis for weekend tourists. Other events include, staging dog parades, bird-watching lectures, Sunday jazz concerts and brunches with star chefs.

A new government in search of novel ideas may well take this advice to heart.