THERE'S an interesting cartoon in the January 18 edition of the Trinidad Guardian newspaper. It portrays a svelte female employee of Trinidad's national carrier Caribbean Airlines chiding an obese passenger -- Air Jamaica -- for being overweight. Standing in the check-in line behind the 'Ms Air Jamaica' are two male passengers, hoping aloud that she will not be bringing any of her US$900-million debt aboard.

A harmless joke?

Perhaps.

But it underscores a perspective on the sale of this 'piece of Jamaica that flies' that we think our Prime Minister Bruce Golding has not made enough of in his pronouncements on the issue.

It has to do with national pride, or in this case, lack thereof.

Yes, we take his point that it is all about the money -- which the Government does not have to subsidise the airline now.

However, we can't join him in advising the Jamaican Airline Pilots Association (JALPA) to abandon its lobby to acquire the national airline on the basis that it doesn't have the money up front.

Because we know that in everything, no matter how seemingly impossible, as long as there's the will, there's a way.

And given the importance of the national carrier to the concept of Brand Jamaica, we find worrying what appears to us to be a rather casual dismissal of JALPA's expression of interest -- however imperfect it may be at this point in time -- in acquiring the airline.

A big part of the problem is that we don't know enough about any of the proposals to acquire Air Jamaica.

And with all due respect to Mr Dennis Lalor, the chairman of the Air Jamaica Divestment Committee, his expressed expectation that the current negotiations with Caribbean Airlines Limited will result in a deal by March 31, is by no means reassuring.

For we need look no further than what happened in the case of the Government's attempts to divest the Frome sugar factory for confirmation that there's many a slip betwixt cup and lip, especially within the context of the current global economic depression.

What if, for any reason, the proposed deal with Caribbean Airlines should fall through?

Will the Government be able to maintain its cash-up-front position then?

It is our understanding that there is a wealth of opportunity, albeit ill-defined, within the Jamaican Diaspora.

Don't we owe it to ourselves to explore its potential?

According to the Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board, members of the Diaspora are willing to invest cash in Air Jamaica. We cannot imagine that the prime minister has anything against their money. So if they really have a viable proposal that can stand, the time to come forward with it is now.

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