THE TRIBUNE
Thursday, February 9, 2017, PAGE 5
Problems in flight for two Western Air planes By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net INVESTIGATIONS are underway into separate incidents involving two Western Air aircraft that experienced problems while in flight on Tuesday. Civil Aviation authorities were at the Western Air hangar in Freeport yesterday, inspecting the aircraft and speaking with the pilots, mechanics and airline officials. Western Air has a fleet of five 33-seater SAAB 340 planes. Sherrexcia Rolle, vice president of operations and general counsel at Western Air, said that their operations have not been affected as three aircraft are still in service. Ms Rolle said that reports of a crash landing at Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA) on Tuesday
THE SCENE on Tuesday after a Western Air plane crash landed at Grand Bahama International Airport. were inaccurate. “The pilot aircraft to make an abrupt landed the aircraft and was swerve on the side of the proceeding as normal with runway,” she explained. both landing gears down. According to reports, The left (landing) gear mal- the incident happened functioned and caused the around 5pm, just after the
plane had taken off from GBIA on its way to Nassau, with 33 passengers and three crew onboard. It was reported that the aircraft experienced technical challenges and was forced to make an emergency landing. It skidded off the runway some 200 feet into the bushes. Ms Rolle said that the aircraft had flown from Nassau to Bimini flawlessly, and from Bimini to Freeport. “It had taken off from Freeport when, three or four minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed some indication of an issue with his electrical system, so he communicated with Air Traffic Control and followed their instructions to fly around the tower to confirm that the gears were down,” she said. “And he made a precautionary decision to return to the airport. He actually
landed the aircraft and they proceeded to go down the runway and was making that first turn when the left gear seemed to malfunction,” she said. Earlier that day, Ms Rolle said another pilot had made the decision to shut down one of the engines after noticing an issue with the oil pressure during a flight from Freeport to Nassau with 20 passengers and three crew onboard. “Basically, the captain shut it down. But the SAAB 340 can fly with one engine, and so the decision the pilot made was the right one,” she said. Ms Rolle said the aircraft continued in flight and landed safely at its destination. She said that Western Air are also conducting their own internal investigations into the incidents, in addition to the independent investigations that are being
conducted by Civil Aviation. “The people we have working on the aircraft are very experienced in the region and have been working with SAAB 340 for 20 and 25 years.” Ms Rolle said Western Air has been working collectively with Civil Aviation and all officials to understand exactly what happened. “More than anything, we want the public to know that we remain committed to providing safe and reliable service. We put a lot of work into our maintenance programme and they are thorough with scheduled and non-scheduled maintenance. “It was one of those situations where there was no indication of any issue and … we are continuing to investigate. But service is continuing as usual and our operations are not affected,” she said.
HALKITIS CONTINUES TO DEFEND VAT COMMENTS AT CONVENTION By KHRISNA VIRGIL Deputy Chief Reporter kvirgil@tribunemedia.net STATE Minister of Finance Michael Halkitis has maintained that when he made his controversial Progressive Liberal Party convention speech where he spoke of value added tax collection and spending, he was speaking within a “broad context” in support of good governance to show the Christie administration’s improved financial footing. More than two weeks ago, Mr Halkitis delivered his fiery “Where the VAT money gone” address to scores of PLP supporters in
response to critics who have questioned how the tax was spent. While it was well received by PLPs gathered at the Melia Nassau Beach Hotel, it landed Mr Halkitis in the hot seat as calls were reignited for the government to fully give an account of the VAT revenue. Some critics also called Mr Halkitis disingenuous for suggesting that VAT had paid for initiatives that the government had borrowed money to carry out. However, yesterday he moved to again explain the context of the convention speech, suggesting it was a response to those who have taken a “narrow view” of
the matter. He said: “It was a privilege of mine to speak at that convention and on the first night my aim was to give an account of this administration’s financial stewardship over its term in office taking into account the history and philosophy of the Progressive Liberal Party. “That is our commitment to education, commitment to equality, the commitment to access to healthcare, our commitment to adequate social security, our commitment to broadening of the economic base (and) how did our reform of the revenue system (through) implementation of VAT being the main re-
CUSTOMS STAFF ASKED TO SIGN PAYMENT AGREEMENT UNIFORMED officers of the Department of Customs are being asked to individually sign documents outlining that they want to be paid sums agreed to by the Bahamas Customs and Immigration Allied Workers Union. According to a statement released by Minister of Labour and National Insurance Shane Gibson yesterday, the money will be paid no later than the end of March. Mr Gibson said: “The minister for the public service is in receipt of a petition from uniformed officers of the Customs Department seeking the pay-
ment of ‘the sums agreed upon via the negotiation of the union and government negotiating teams.’ “The government of The Bahamas has set aside the relevant sums. Any uniformed officer of the said departments who wishes to be paid may make written application for payment through your respective Human Resources Departments. “Upon receipt of the written request, the payments should be made in your next pay packet or no later than March 29, 2017.” The Tribune understands the officers are being asked
to make a written application for the payment because their bargaining agent reportedly claimed the employees signed a petition to be paid these sums “under duress.” Only those who request payment will be paid. Last month, after receiving a petition signed by more than 130 customs officers who asked that they be paid money agreed to by the BCIAWU, Mr Gibson said he recommended that the officers be paid. He said this was despite the union not concluding and signing an industrial agreement with the government.
form, how did that comport with our philosophy.” He also said: “As a result of the reforms we have improved our financial position and we can meet the needs of governance in a better way. We can service our debt including debt payment and interest payment and we are in a better financial position to arrange financing for capital investments. “I gave examples on all of these and spoke of how the government was able to undertake capital works to address long standing deficiencies. “Because of our improved financial position we can provision for Na-
tional Health Insurance. “I say all of that because there has been some response to my address because I sought to deliver it in a particular way. But as I said before I stand by everything that I said. Because of our improved financial position we were able to go to a bank and arrange financing for Bahamasair without a government guarantee and when I say ‘that’s where the VAT money gone’ it is because of our improved position we can arrange the financing for the aircraft that were delivered ahead of schedule and advance monies to Bahamasair for that. “The reaction to my speech was as if I was giving
an exhaustive list of every single thing that the VAT money would have gone to and wanted to speak within a context of what we sought to do with the reform to put us in a better position for good governance and show some results of what we did. “Some have taken the narrow view that you said you borrowed the money. Mr Speaker I was speaking within a broad context of supporting good governance,” Mr Halkitis added. He said he was looking forward to this year’s midyear budget debate, suggesting that further proof would be presented on VAT expenditure during this time.