Bartlett gets slap on the wrist for AA deal

BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Observer staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Prime Minister Bruce Golding Thursday gave the all-clear, disentangling Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett from claims that he had misled the Cabinet in negotiations for a US$4.5-million airlift guarantee deal between Jamaica Vacations Limited (JAMVAC) and American Airlines.

At the same time, the prime minister gave Bartlett, Director of Tourism John Lynch and executive director of JAMVAC Lionel Reid a light slap on the wrist for the "breach of government policy" and told them not to do it again.

Contractor General Greg Christie, in a blistering report to Parliament earlier this month, had charged that the Bruce Golding administration was misled about details of the US$4.5-million airlift guarantee deal, which he said was "improperly and irregularly awarded" and signed before it was presented to the Cabinet.

According to Christie, his probe had revealed that Bartlett, Lynch and Reid played major roles that led to the signing of the agreement.

Bartlett, who has been called upon to resign by several interest groups, has since argued in his own defence that there was no dishonest intent behind the consultations between JAMVAC and AA, nor any deliberate attempt to deceive Cabinet.

He contended instead that the deal was struck to prevent a fallout in the tourism industry after it was discovered between December 2007 and January 2008 that American Airlines was preparing to withdraw flights from a number of gateways and to suspend, indefinitely, service from Dallas to Montego Bay, reduce service from Miami to Montego Bay and downsize its aircraft from New York to Montego Bay.

Earlier this month, Lynch revealed in an interview with the Observer that Jamaica had earned just over US$50 million from the deal.

Thursday, in a statement to the House of Representatives following the official opening ceremony earlier to mark the start of the new legislative year, Golding said after careful consideration of Christie's report, Bartlett was in the clear as "there is no suggestion in the report of any corruption in the execution of the agreement".

"The minister of tourism did not mislead the Cabinet as asserted by the contractor general," said the prime minister. "While it was incorrect for the Cabinet Submission to have referred to the arrangement as an "unsolicited proposal", the origin and nature of the arrangements were fully explained to the Cabinet in the discussions that were held when the submission was considered."

He said while it was "true that other airlines were not canvassed to provide the seats that were needed from the targeted gateways", this was because "it was not considered practical to do so" given the impact of the global recession and the toll on the airline industry where most were "drastically shedding routes and curtailing flights".

"American Airlines was the logical option since it was already operating two of the targeted routes, is the largest carrier serving the Caribbean, has deep penetration in the US market, and provides the best connecting network through which travellers from critical tourist markets are able to make connection into Jamaica," Golding said.

However, he admitted that the agreement was in fact signed by the chairman of JAMVAC without the approval of the Cabinet.

"This is a breach of government policy and I have made it clear to the minister, the chairman and CEO of JAMVAC that there must be no recurrence," Golding continued.

The prime minister said notwithstanding the identified breach, "the Government is satisfied that the agreement was undertaken in the best interest of the country".

"The minister and his team have worked hard to maintain visitor arrivals, notwithstanding the impact of recession. And they have done extremely well -- 3.6 per cent increase in stopover arrivals last year -- better than any other destination in the region. Adequate airlift was a crucial part of that success," Golding argued.

Already, he said the flights guaranteed by the agreement yielded 74,070 passengers, excluding Jamaican nationals, with the Chicago route making a surplus of US$181,000.

Golding also said the Government has accepted several of the recommendations contained in the contractor general's report and is taking the appropriate action.

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Bartlett gets slap on the wrist for AA deal