(Trinidad Express) National carrier Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has not paid its promised US$5 million (TT$30 million) to the Prime Minister’s pet project, the Children’s Life Fund.
On November 30, 2011, CAL chairman George Nicholas presented a replica cheque to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the official launch of the Fund at the Hilton Trinidad.
Persad-Bissessar donates ten per cent of her salary, while her Cabinet colleagues donate five per cent, to the fund.
Persad-Bissessar had explained that CAL had raised the US$5 million by donating US$5 paid on every passenger flight ticket to the Children’s Fund.
However, the Sunday Express understands that up to last week the payment to the fund was still outstanding.
Chairman of the Children’s Life Fund, Varun Maharaj told the Sunday Express yesterday that while they haven’t received the sum, he understands that CAL was making arrangements to make the payments.
He said he had the commitment of the chairman as well as line Minister Devant Maharaj.
Maharaj said Nicholas was committed to the Life Fund and had even offered to facilitate the travel of certain cases through CAL.
Even as CAL is yet to hand over the US$5 million cheque to the Life Fund, it is also owing fuel provider National Petroleum tens of millions of dollars.
CAL owes NP approximately TT$29 million for aviation fuel.
The Sunday Express understands that CAL usually enjoys a seven-day credit facility for fuel from NP.
However, CAL has been unable to pay the full amount when invoiced.
Instead, the Sunday Express understands the company issues partial payments to sustain the account.
“It’s a standard arrangement with all our suppliers but NP is given first priority as a supplier,” was all Alicia Cabrera, CAL’s senior marketing manager would say yesterday.
Chairman Nicholas could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday.
He announced that the airline had made a TT$200 million profit last year.
The sum, the Sunday Express was told, has built up over the last six weeks as no payments have been made to the account despite an attractive fuel subsidy which the airline has enjoyed since it began operations in January 2007.
NP has declined to disclose information because CAL is a customer.
“We pay them a little at a time but you will appreciate that our operations require fuel on a constant basis. It’s like an account that keeps going up. We might pay TT$5 million this week but purchase TT$10 million. The point is we are supposed to settle it in seven days but it’s never done,” a source familiar with CAL’s operations said.
Transport Minister Maharaj confirmed yesterday that CAL was undergoing financial stress.
Maharaj told the Sunday Express he was aware that CAL had not paid the US$5 million to the Children’s Life Fund and that it owed a considerable amount to NP.
He said last week officials from his ministry met with CAL’s executives “to go through in detail various aspects of its budget”.
Maharaj said the ministry was looking at it in two parts: CAL’s domestic operations and the Air Jamaica operations.