TRINIDAD ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS - NOV-DEC

UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 001430 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR SENV EFIN EINV ETRD TD SUBJECT: TRINIDAD ECONOMIC HIGHLIGHTS - NOV-DEC Ref: Port of Spain 1358 Notable economic developments in Trinidad & Tobago during the second half of November and first half of December included: ¶1. Further BWIA-Caribbean Airlines Developments ¶2. Delta Airlines opens Atlanta-Port of Spain direct flights ¶3. Second Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Named -------------- -- ¶1. Further BWIA-Caribbean Airlines Developments -------------- -- The conversion of national carrier BWIA into Caribbean Airlines continues to generate controversy as the launch of the new airline on January 1, 2007 approaches (reftel). Daily newspaper articles have questioned the rising cost of restructuring, the inability of GOTT to sell the seven Heathrow slots for more than UK pounds 5 million, reports of an abortive US$20 million contract to re-brand BWIA from June 2006 (three months prior to the announcement that BWIA would be closing),and the logo change from the steel pan drum to a hummingbird. In a Parliamentary address December 1, Minister of Finance Conrad Enill announced that the cost of the BWIA/Caribbean Airlines restructuring would top US$350 million, up from previous estimates of US$250 million. Almost a third of the total cost will be used to settle the voluntary separation packages of terminated employees; other costs include settlement of liabilities, debt reduction and working capital for future operations. Four days later, Enill revealed that the previously announced deal to trade BWIA's Heathrow slots to British Airways for a BA code share on flights to Gatwick would net the T&T carrier only UK pounds 5 million. Opposition parliamentarians have questioned the low price of the slots sale and made allegations of profiteering against the Minister of Trade and Industry Ken Valley in connection with this agreement. Enill and Valley have defended the deal, declaring it the best deal they could make in a "use it or lose it" situation in which BWIA's Port of Spain-London routing was no longer profitable. -------------- -------------- ¶2. Delta Airlines opens Atlanta-Port of Spain direct flights -------------- -------------- Delta Airlines celebrated its inaugural flight from Atlanta to Port of Spain Saturday, December 9. As part of the U.S. carrier's international expansion plan, Delta will fly between these sister cities four times every week and start weekly flights between Atlanta and Tobago on February 17, 2007, on the eve of Trinidad's Carnival. In addition to Atlanta and Port of Spain's nearly 20-year sister city relationship, Delta hopes that increasing trade ties and the 4,700 families of Trinidadian descent residing in Georgia will make this route profitable. A delegation of representatives from Delta, the State of Georgia and the Atlanta Mayor's Office traveled on the inaugural flight and conducted a series of events December 11 to promote the new service and trade between the two areas. Minister of Trade and Industry Ken Valley's speeches at both a business meeting sponsored by the State of Georgia and at Delta's inaugural reception focused on transforming Port of Spain into a regional transportation hub. Announcing that Copa Airlines would soon start flights between Panama and Port of Spain and that Trinidad and Tobago was in discussions with Mexico aimed at launching new service, Minister Valley also suggested that Delta should consider Port of Spain as a hub for flights to South America. -------------- -------------- ¶3. Second Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) Named -------------- -------------- The Minister of Public Utilities and the Environment Penelope Beckles officially declared Nariva Swamp an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) in a ceremony at the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) December 8. Nariva Swamp and Matura National Park in northeast Trinidad, which was declared an ESA in 2004, are the only areas in Trinidad and Tobago currently protected under the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Rules adopted in 2001. The Government plans to protect two additional areas: the Buccoo Reef in Tobago and the Aripo Savannah in Trinidad. ESA status protects an area from industrial development and agricultural activities to preserve Trinidad and Tobago's biodiversity. In the case of Nariva Swamp, EMA reported that an application to drill for oil on Nariva Swamp was withdrawn a week before ESA status was announced. Some activists opposed to the Alcoa smelter construction in Chatham have argued that Trinidad's south-western peninsula also should be declared an ESA and that there is a larger number of area endemic species there than in the Nariva Swamp (see septel). AUSTIN