Kamla Passes the REDjet Issue to the new Transport Minister

REDjet will probably not recieve consent to travel to Trinidad and Tobago anytime soon, because Prime Minister (PM) Kamla Persad-Bissessar has reshuffled her Cabinet. In the reshuffling process, the Minister of Works and Transport, Mr. Jack Warner, loss part of his portfolio, which has been transferred to another minister. The Ministry of Transport now lies with Mr. Devant Maharaj who has been appointed a Senator, and Minister of this Ministry.

Could this be a tactical move by the republic? Mr. Devant Maharaj will probably argue, and rightly so, that he now has to come up to date with the REDjet issue, and one shouldn't expect any resolve anytime soon.

The prime minister of Barbados while speaking in an interview at the 32nd CARICOM Head of Government meeting in Basseterre, St Kitts, said that since a new minister has been appointed in Trinidad to the Ministry of Transport the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago will be having talks with the new minister, and her Cabinet before any decisions on REDjet are made.

PM Stuart indicated that regional leaders had agree on a course of action which would involve the governments of Guyana, Barbados, and Jamaica. The support of Trinidad and Tobago is still awaited.

Mr. Stuart told the media that "the explanation given, of course, was that there was a new minister of transport, new minister of civil aviation in Trinidad and Tobago and that the prime minister could not commit herself to a course of action without discussing the matter both with her Cabinet, and with him...."

Just when one thought REDjet would have been given the green light to fly into Trinidad and Tobago transporting ordinary citizens to and fro, a new minister is appointed who will probably be starting from square one before any agreements are pursued. Jamaica on the otherhand who have been diligently trying to decide on whether REDjet should fly there, appears to be holding on to the "shirt tail" of Trinidad and are doing as they are.