OPINION: Hon. Ralph Gonzales MIA Culpa

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By Makeda Mikael

 

The former Chairman of LIAT and current Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Hon. Ralph Gonzalves’ MIA culpa on flinging the last stone that hit LIAT, causing the valiant Caribbean Airline to loose altitude, is the topic of aviation talk in the region.

 It has even blanked out Dominica’s outreach to join LIAT 2020, putting their dollars where their talk centered, and now we are all awaiting papers to commit to the resuscitation of LIAT, the Little Airline that Could! 

As some one who falls in love with airports and runways, staying in love with LIAT has always been easy. 

From the days of the first advertisement ditty, “LIAT, LIAT, I LOVE” to today as we hear the sound and look up to see what is left of LIAT, still flying high, safe and sound, with loving pilots, and smiling efficient crew, and the best engineers and mechanics, and, even when they bring you home late, they bring you home! 

Sixty years is long enough to develop a culture in the airline business, and track record builds confidence in the marketplace, a confidence based on safety, doing the best they can, sometimes in the worst of times, like over the last few years.

 The culture of LIAT is based on care, and even as the majority of LIAT workers have always been female, it could be that the nurturing science of women may have helped mold the kinder side of LIAT, which we all knew. 

However it was never acceptable for LIAT Leaving Island Any Time, so whenever it dropped to that level loud unloving and unkind words were exchanged, until LIAT again saved the day, and the LIAT love flowed again. 

We managed a pandemic without LIAT, and that was the time when down, that LIAT received the violence of the plantation, the destruction of our only means of integration, LIAT grounded! LIAT was stomped on, LIAT’s elegant and self-assured pilots, crew, engineers, mechanics, operations and airport staff, reduced to begging for their well-earned severance or some kinda money, just to live. 

The contempt and abuse metered out against these hardworking, loyal and constant workers of LIAT certainly was not love from the politicians who ran the airline to the ground, and then abused it. The MIA Culpa of the Hon. Prime Minister is accepted. However, as he has been the Chairman of LIAT for more years than he can remember, he will need to undo what you did, renew Hon. MIA Motley’s faith in LIAT, and bring Barbados back into the family, LIAT 2020!

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3 COMMENTS

  1. And no one has the decency and is humble enough to recognize that what our Prime Minister did, to protect LIAT from being dumped and keep it in the air, was a well thought of and courageous act. History will one day Absolve him. Meantime a King has no honor in his own country.

  2. And LIAT wanted to develop on Makeda’s land yet her price was always too high. She got very greedy with developers and investors which is why Runway 10 today is a dump and she will be out of the aviation business soon once Gaston gets his hands on her land and takes it away from her for good so that VC Bird International Airport can thrive, grow, and develop to where it needs to be to support additional aviation businesses specifically with private aviation growth. Makeda for years has been the hinderance for growth at that airport. She could not even run an FBO and sold out because she was knee-deep in debt

    • Aviator you haffu be GB. Better the land still owned by Antigua and not Chinese, better owned by her than the white people they planning to self enrich themselves with their dollars, better than being just a crooked place like before with another Stanford. Mek um tap dey an burn you cause you can’t sell it an get rich!

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