PPM challenges lack of transparency on Barbados route
(CNS): The opposition is calling on Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan to reveal details of the deal that led to Cayman Airways’ new Barbados route and an additional flight to Los Angeles. CNS asked the minister during the press conference announcing the new gateway held Monday what, if any, financial contribution Barbados was making towards this partnership, but Bryan said he was unable to say.
Progressives Leader Roy McTaggart said that while this route will make travel between the Cayman Islands, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean easier and enhance regional travel, there are many other questions about the route that are unanswered. He said that “first and foremost, the route must make sense for the Cayman Islands and Cayman Airways”.
Despite assurances as to the viability of the new route from tourism officials, McTaggart raised concerns about a number of issues that would challenge that viability, as well as the failure of the ministry and the national flag carrier to answer the question about the details of this deal.
“As CIG and CAL enter this new partnership with Barbados, it will also be important that the risks and rewards are clearly understood and suitably shared,” he said in a video message in response to the announcement.
The opposition said that government should be able to answer at least two questions about any new CAL route: Does the route pose any undue increased financial or other risks to CAL or the government? And is there an alternative, more profitable option?
“The answers to those questions were not fully explored during the announcement,” McTaggart said, as he noted the increasing restrictions on press questions on the rare occasions that any minister goes before the press.
Once again, the press was limited to just two questions and the panel failed to properly address several of them, with no opportunity for the press to follow up and properly challenge the answers given. CNS did pose a question about the cost-sharing of the route, but Minister Bryan refused to give details about the financial arrangement with Barbados, saying the contract prevented the financial information from being released.
“Unfortunately, I am not allowed to talk about the contract itself in respect to the arrangement with Cayman Airways as well as the authority in Barbados. So legally, I can’t answer that question. I wish I could but I can’t,” he said, even though the deal involves public money.
Bryan added that if he became legally allowed to reveal it, he would, but there were parts of the contract that were protected. “But I can promise the Cayman Islands people they will not lose in any capacity,” he said.
McTaggart said there should be nothing to hide from the people in Cayman and Barbados, and queried the viability of the route and how decisions had been made. CAL will be relying on travel numbers from Barbados to make the new LA flight viable and the route starts in low season, which he said seemed “detrimental to the viability and success of this second flight to LA”.
The opposition leader said it did not seem like a business decision that CAL would usually take. “This appears to have been acknowledged by the CAL chairman, who said that he and the CAL board were not initially planning to provide a second flight at this time. But the partnership with Barbados was the impetus for starting in October,” he said.
McTaggart said the opposition was also sceptical about the idea that visitors from European countries would travel to the Cayman Islands via Barbados.
“The minister did indicate that increasing arrivals from the UK and the EU would be a key measure for him as to the success of the new route for the Cayman Islands,” McTaggart said. “At a time when recent stayover statistics indicate that both the Cayman Islands and Barbados are struggling to get back to 2019 tourism numbers, there is no room for the Barbados route to fail and not perform as anticipated for either country.”
Another concern is the apparent lack of real analysis for this route, as CAL seems to be relying on assurances that all would be well, the opposition leader said. “We can only conclude that a formal and complete route analysis was not performed,” he said.
“We hope the minister was correct when he assured the press and the public that neither CAL nor the Cayman Islands would lose on an arrangement,” McTaggart stated. But without full transparency on any shared financing arrangements and route analysis or viability, the route remains in doubt and should not be “allowed to burden CAL or the Cayman Islands people unduly financially”.
The route does not appear to have been welcomed broadly in any corner of the community, though people are reluctant to go on record on the matter. Following Monday’s press briefing, the response by CNS readers ranged from tepid to hostile about the new route, and from more than 100 comments posted on CNS at press time, we were hard-pressed to find one that was positive.
Nevertheless, the tourism minister is upbeat about the new Eastern Caribbean connection, even though historically, regional flights have almost always run at a loss.
“The launch of this direct service not only fosters closer ties between our two countries but also provides regional travellers with seamless connectivity that will be cheaper, faster and more convenient than anything currently on the market,” he said during Monday’s announcement. “I look forward to this partnership having a positive impact on the tourism sectors of both the Cayman Islands and Barbados, and I am pleased that our national airline, Cayman Airways, is being strategically leveraged to provide this much anticipated new service.”
See the PPM leader’s YouTube message below in full:
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Category: Local News, Politics, Travel
Barbados has two major festivals, Crop over and Rum Fest, hence the route.
Must also be some side partnerships involving local businessmen wanting access to Barbado’s resources in exchange for mutual benefits.
Someone’s flexing their political power here.
Barbados folk now own Cayman National Bank. any connection to this weird route?
CNB is owned by The Republic Group which is a Trinidadian company but what does that have to do with this new route?
I swear people complain just to complain.
They don’t complain, they are just stupid
Let me guess.. you are one of those pieces of “drift woods”??? Right. Calling us stupid? But we are still good enough for you to live amongst us???. Good damn thing we stupid!!! Take your a.. back to your s.. h… country..
Same difference
6:41 am. you are correct. Can’t fix stupid.
5:21 am. C N Bank Is owned by Republic Bank from TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO if you don’t know the facts, keep your mouth shut.Remember even a fish would not get hooked if it kept their mouth Shut.
It is the Opposition’s job to question decisions made by Government whether its PPM, PACT, UDP etc. especially vital now as Cayman Marl Road is biased.
CNS is currently the only media that is relaying information to the people to provide a platform for opinions to be read.
It is concerning that decisions are being made without proper analysis to ensure that we the people (who are the taxpayers of this country) will not suffer from poor decisions by a few.
The SAGCs were set up with boards to run the organization independently. The Ministers have a vision but the board is there for checks and balances and prepare business cases to support or decline. I assume they won’t say no so that they can stay on the boards and get their monthly stipends and free flights.
Not sure who is on the board but there are other boards with no backbone as they are comprised of political cronies.
Inflation is out of control, the FEDS just raised interest rates and the PACT Government is not doing anything to reduce inflation. Can someone name one thing????
May 2025 is less than 2 years away. Here’s hoping that some ethical candidates run again and new ones join. Here’s hoping that Caymanian voters stop the what’s in it for me attitude and realize that these islands are in jeopardy if the Government doesn’t change in 2025.
The boards are chosen by government. There is a reason for that
SMH the CAL chairman took people through a truncated version of their analysis. Why are people just being ignorant?
They mentioned how they aim to open up more routes from England via Manchester and also through Finland and Germany, which is obviously the money maker because those folks travel for weeks on holiday. Barbados is getting its connection to the West Coast which CAL is poised to offer to them.
Didn’t the DOT report the Europe and Ireland was their fastest growing route at the end of 2022?
Clearly the opportunity showed itself and the Chairman and Ministers explored it. Does anyone really believe that a two politicians would do something so public and costly without a proper analysis? It could damage both of their careers?
And also, if it doesn’t work then I’m sure they will discontinue the route, just like they did in the past with Houston and Orlando. AND as the previous Minister said in many occasions, CAL usually goes into a route to open it up, access viability and then another airline may take it up.
XXXX
CNS: X’d out the lies.
Does anyone really believe that anyone traveling here from Europe would prefer to fly to Barbados and then connect to a completely different airline that only flies like twice a week? Give us a break.
We could increase the number of potential European travelers 100x by bringing back the early morning and evening Miami flights.
Germany has flights to Jamaica. Why not use that route instead? They can also come through London like I did.
One has to wonder about the governance structure of CIG. Does the AG review these “deals” prior to entering. Is there an independent body that reviews whether there is value for Cayman? What is the Board’s role in all of this?
Kenny Kinney Kenny the last thing people in Cayman want to get a break from the island is to go to añother freaking island. Captain Kenny needs to put on his Thinking Cap and think this through. “Financial Contributions” is the key to this whole dance. Wonder who is receiving this doe. Kenny keep quiet promised not to tell. Hmmmm
It’s not about where WE want to go,It’s about opening up to new travel markets.
And it seems they are trying to partner with Barbados to ensure they are optimizing multiple opportunities to ensure viability. Including growing the LA route which is making money but people are only buying one leg of the flight since most travelers don’t want to be in LA for a week. (According to the Chairman and was reported here).
Dr John Paul Clarke is a very intelligent man with connections to MIT and NASA. I trust his analysis and offer well wishes to CAL on its new route.
On another note there are loads of Eastern Caribbean nationals living here (from Dominican Republic down to Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana) that will more than likely take the flight especially during summer season when schools are out and for the multiple carnivals and events that take place in the region.ie
Trinidad Carnival
Antigua Carnival
Barbados CropOver and Rum Festival
Grenada spice festival
St Kitts Music Festival and St Lucia and Tobago Jazz Fests….etc.
So there are multiple revenue streams being explored here just as they have done in the past.
Meanwhile we are still waiting to hear solutions on bigger issues like the housing shortage, homelessness, armed robberies, cost of living etc.
What does that have to do with the Ministry of Tourism?
Reach out to the relevant departments and ministries that manage those things.
Buck passing, Cayman national pastime.
#worldclass
The PPM got some nerve!!! Talking bout Transparency, its a wonder they didnt sprain a finger typing that or bite they tongue asking the question.
Precisely.
When will the PPM make public the details of the “GREAT DEAL” they claim CIG got on the 4 planes bought when Moses was Minister?
Wonder who got paid, and which Caymanians benefitted, from that GREAT DEAL?
cal needs to be sold. governments should not run airlines.
where else in the world does an airline make a loss from charging people $400 for a 70 min flight to miami?
and to think that no competitor is allowed undercut these rip-off fairs is bonkers!
for those fearing loss of airlift during hurricane…that can be made a condition of the sale.
There is so much wrong with this post that it doesn’t warrant the energy to respond further than to say…I bet you arrived here from a very large landlocked community where you have access to everything you ever needed. Otherwise you would understand the importance of Cayman Airways to these small islands.
Cayman people are stupid to let the government spend money on secret contracts. It happens all the time. “Commercial sensitivity” is a bs excuse that government does not have to agree to but does anyway. This one is double stupid.
This Barbados route makes absolutely ZERO sense. we can’t even fill the direct BA flight from London to Cayman (mist get off in Nassau). so why would anyone fly to Barbados to then come here? has Kenneth Bryan ever traveled in his life to know people want EASY routes. Is there any profitability analysis being done on these routes? Can we just get a 7 am Miami flight please?
Get Kenneth Bryan out. Mark my words Cayman, unless something is done, this guy is going to be a lingering stink around Cayman politics making dodgy deals for decades like you know who.
9:15, The heir apparent to the God in West Bay, McKeeva Bush.
We are not the smartest people.
Big Mac and BTW, have been advising him.
Don’t you all remember when Kenny and Chris was in JA trying to do the same thing?
They think we are fools.
Mac, Kenneth, Saunders, Jay are all trying to enhance corrupting Jamaican garrison politics in the Cayman Islands.
If Barbados is financially backing the flight then it means Barbados thinks it is to their benefit as it well maybe. The thing is that CAL must be for Cayman’s benefit not Barbados. Is it Kennith just want to be able to travel to Barbados on a direct flight?
Right on cue, chief propagandist marl road steps up to defend this nonsense, as she claims to be the cold hard truth.
How can the CIG even sign a ‘contract’ that prevents them revealing financial dealings with public money? Not only should the auditor general be concerned about this but so should the ACC. Why does the ‘legal’ implication of a foreign government trump home policies in regard to public money?
I have to laugh at the PPM wailing over this issue. The PPM used the same nonsense excuse of confidentiality when it comes to CAL operations as PACT is doing now. The taxpayers should have full transparency into the losses at CAL and the business case that supports those operations. Sadly we all now this new flight is impossible to support from a business point of view.
You’re on the right track CNS, keep on this. We need access to heavy airlift with a strategic case for this country. I think LA and Panama were the right direction, but this makes no sense. And I love visiting East Caribbean, but there ain’t nothing there…
Your last line sums it all up, “I love visiting the East Caribbean, but there ain’t nothing there”. The destination choice just makes no sense; I get that this would open folks up to the Eastern Caribbean SOMEWHAT, but Bardados?
Did you listen to the same press conference that I did? it’s not about Barbados, it’s about finding a viable way to 1. put in a second LA flight and 2. grow the European market.
Barbados wants to get to LA. So, why not partner and double up on passengers to ensure increased passenger volume?
The Barbados Minister said they will be putting money towards marketing the route, so we are sharing resources. Why is this not being understood as a partnership in any other business?
Businesses participate because they see the benefit in partnering whereas if they went it alone it would most definitely be more costly or be more difficult.
Cayman Airways is poised to become THE regional airline as intra-regional travel can be lucrative because there are millions to be made.
Have a read of the last three paragraphs in the “Key takeaways” in the 2022 World Travel and Tourism Council report (page 4), maybe, just maybe there is a plan for the future that no one is realizing?
https://wttc.org/Portals/0/Documents/Reports/2022/Travel-and-tourism-in-the-caribbean.pdf
This comment is laughable, but carry on.
Were you born with the wool already over you eyes?
According to the board chairman we are testing the waters! This is during low season with no marketing campaign and no transparency, doomed to fail but they will keep it going as long as Kenny needs to get to Barbados on a regular basis. Lord please inspire someone worth voting for to run against this joke!
Is Marco Archer still on the board ? I’d like to hear from him sometime soon!!!
Kenneth is a pawn being manipulated by the Barbados and Jamaica tourism Ministers. They see a young Minister with an ego and a national airline under his portfolio. That’s it.
And also manipulated by Chris Saunders too. Don’t you all be fooled.
Cayman Airways used to fly to Sangster in Montego Bay , had done so for some years. An airport with as many connections as Grantly Adams , both within the Caribbean as well as to the U.K. & European origin cities. Jamaica is already a hub for the Caribbean, when you include Kingston , so two airports catering to the demand. ( Montego Bay actually has a larger air traffic total in numbers than Barbados) .
Just looking at a map tells you why , Jamaica is in the middle of the Caribbean.
Have to question Kenny’s secret deal with the Bajans.
I also have to question why Wayne is allowing him to run amok with his own agenda on this ?
Seems as though Kenny just does what Kenny wants now?
cayman airways still flies to Mobay
Illegal billboards Kenny and you want us to agree to your promises?
Get back on your donkey and head toward the sunset!
Before or after shilling for his expat wife’s real estate business?
PACTransparency, Ha !!!! laughing like a drain, nitwits
C.I.G: “Kenneth, what are the details on the deal between Cayman Airways and Barbados?”
Kenneth: “ Bugger off , I’m not telling you anything”.
C.I.G: “ Kenneth , OK ..carry on “.
🤐🤐
At what point do we realize that Minister Bryan will do or say anything to be in front of a camera?
We just launched the route to LA – has anyone, including CNS, questioned the Minister on how well those flights are doing? Why on earth would someone fly to Barbados then switch airlines to fly to Cayman, when they could do so through Nassau or Miami on the same airline?
The public purse will suffer for his attention mongering.
any comment Mrs governor??
Why should she comment? Her airline like all British diplomats, is British Airways.
Because she is responsible for good governance and here we have an example of the minister making a decision to commit significant finically resources and risks and flatly refuse to disclose the basis on which he has taken that decision?
Also, any word Auditor General?
What good is having an Auditor General if all of her reports are completely ignored?
Nonsense. If she was to jump in Caymanian politicians would become anti British and go on an anti colonialist line.
Furthermore, Sir Alden basically stripped the Governor of most of his / her power when he ruled the Islands.
The Governor has become politically emasculated.
12:27, Caymanians need to politically grow up and start having some cojones.
Regrettably, we are nothing more than 3 Islands with lots of keyboard warriors.
The UK want Cayman to pay to supply “air bridge corridors”, “security forces”, and “helicopter response” capabilities to the remaining poorer Caribbean BOTs. Makes mother’s job a whole lot easier, and they can blame us when it goes wrong.
Except of course Barbados isn’t a BOT. Or anywhere near another BOT. But sure, let’s blame the UK rather than think this is all Kenny’s doing.
Mrs. Governor, direct rule please.
Fortunately for you, you can have direct rule immediately by simply returning home to England. Things do seem to be going well over there.
auditor general needs to investigate this mess asap.
pact are a total joke but ppm were the first government to stop regular government press briefings
Stop with those pesky facts. PPM supporters are allergic to facts and truth.
Only time I remember previous governments holding “regular” press briefings pre-COVID was right before elections.
“Unfortunately, I am not allowed to talk about the contract itself in respect to the arrangement with Cayman Airways as well as the authority in Barbados. So legally, I can’t answer that question. I wish I could but I can’t,” he said, even though the deal involves public money.“
Does the minister now answer to a foreign government ?
Yes.
Bryan now thinks he will ‘Run Tings’ for Barbados.
Only when it doesn’t contradict what Max tells him to do.
How did CMR have the details of the financial arrangements and said with certainty that Barbados was financially guaranteeing the route yet the Minister couldn’t give “his people” the details ? Are we to believe that he didn’t leave the details to CMR ? This needs to be investigated because if he thinks we are all as stupid as him he can think again!
“Leak”
Who’s airline is this? Where are the financials? The business plan? The route criteria? How much are these aircraft leases? Why are we doing this?
All we know is that CAL loses millions per year before receiving its annual multimillion dollar government subsidies. This worthless new route will very likely increase the losses with no positive inflows on tourist dollars spent on island.
Ok ppm suckers go back to sleep all 48 a you , until mealy mouth rises up again.
Hey Rude Boy idiot, go fly a kite!
How many Csymanians works in Barbadoes ? Now Check how many Bajans are here working ? Don’t that tell a story ?