Caribbean Airlines head calls on President
Guyana Chronicle
February 8, 2007
CHIEF Executive Officer of Caribbean Airlines, Mr. Peter Davies, yesterday met President Bharrat Jagdeo in Georgetown and assured that mistakes by BWIA which it has replaced, will not be repeated, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
According to the agency, Davies said, “I wanted to give him the reassurance that with the closure of BWIA on December 31 and the launch of Caribbean Airlines, that we are conscious of our responsibility for making sure we provide good, safe, on time, value for money airlift into the country.”
Asked about the passenger response to the new carrier, he said, “It’s been positive. BWIA unfortunately had a very poor on time performance and what we have been doing since we launched is to ensure passengers get true value for money. We have to work hard to attract the passengers and we cannot afford to be complacent.”
He said substantial work has been put in by many stakeholders to make the airline a success, GINA reported.
President meets FITUG representatives
SEVERAL concerns of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) were yesterday addressed by President Bharrat Jagdeo when they met at the Office of the President.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said the meeting followed a request by the group of trade union bodies before Mr. Jagdeo departed for the Russian Federation last week.
Mr. Grantley Culbard, President of FITUG, said the meeting was fruitful and the Head of State gave his commitment to address a number of their concerns and needs, the agency reported.
We were discussing housing, the possibility of attaining house lots for our members who are found throughout the country and assistance for our education programme. The President has given the undertaking that he will look at some of these issues for us,” Culbard said
According to GINA, he said the implementation of the Value Added Tax was also discussed with President Jagdeo.
We expressed our disappointment in terms of what came out in the budget presentation. We were looking for the income tax threshold to reach above $40,000. It was only raised by a mere $3,000 and the President explained why this was so and indicated that there will be some further review to see to what extent more relief can be brought to workers,” Culbard said.
He said the President also indicated that his government would look at the possibility of providing school uniforms to all school children to ease the burden on parents.
The group’s members were brought up-to-date with the developments expected in the bauxite industry stemming from President Jagdeo’s visit to the Russian Federation, GINA said.
FITUG General Secretary, Mr. Kenneth Joseph, commenting on the meeting said, “We also got the President to arrange a meeting between the National Association of Agricultural Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) and the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) on this matter where they want to get rid of 250 persons. I think that meeting is to be held before the end of the week. So it was a successful meeting.”
Joseph said FITUG is looking forward to working with the government.
The group is expected to meet the President once every quarter, GINA said.
FITUG is comprised of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), NAACIE, the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) and the Guyana Labour Union (GLU).