During an interview with reporters following a meeting of aviation officials in the region at the Caricom Secretariat here on Thursday, Archer also said that currently CASSOS was working to assist Haiti in rebuilding its aviation industry.
Archer, who is also Director of Civil Aviation in Barbados, told the media that Haiti was “very much in disrepair” and the French-speaking nation would have to decide its priorities as the country rebuilt following February’s devastating earthquake.
Haiti was working towards getting its aviation industry on par with other nations, he continued, while international organizations such as the World Bank, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) as well as ICAO were assisting in rebuilding the country’s aviation sector.
He said that CASSOS during a meeting in Miami in the United States a few weeks ago discussed the issue and it was agreed that the Haitian authorities would have to decide on their aviation future.
Archer stated that at Thursday’s meeting of Caricom aviation officials, members decided to unanimously forgive a debt of some US$168,000 owed by Haiti to the organization, and while the decision may be costly, it was taken in the best interest of the country. He said that CASSOS was working with Haitian aviation officials in mentoring the country’s aviation sector in the areas of technical and administrative support.
Meanwhile, the Caricom group has been mobilizing support for Trinidad and Tobago as that country attempts to win a seat on the ICAO council at the organization’s September/October meeting.
Archer said that Caricom had been working with the aviation groups in the Caribbean in garnering support from member states for Trinidad. He said that the Caribbean states had not been able to have their say at the ICAO councils.
According to Archer, the Latin America groups’ support would have been ideal but according to him that region has not historically supported the Caribbean region over the years.
He said the Latin America group had made its voice known to this effect; a position which he regarded as unreasonable.
There are 8 seats to be contested at the ICAO assembly later this year, and according to Archer Caribbean states had been working with the Latin American group at finding a way to facilitate Caricom’s participation in the ICAO council, but their efforts had been unsuccessful.
Archer said that a few weeks ago in Montreal, Canada, the president of ICAO used his office to meet with CASSOS and the Latin American group and the latter “made it quite clear that they would not support us, only if we join that group.”
He said joining the group had no benefit for the English-speaking Caribbean since the group did not “consider us,” and only Spanish and Portuguese were spoken at the group’s meetings. He said CASSOS had signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the African, Asian and European states to garner support for Trinidad, stating that the region currently has some 13-14 votes for the October meeting, a far cry from the 80 odd votes needed in order to be guaranteed a seat on the council.
