CHARLES KONG SOO
Chairman of the Tobago Business Chamber Martin George is calling upon Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and by extension, the Government to return all flights between Trinidad and Tobago to full capacity and to take steps to rectify the situation as soon as possible.
In keeping with the government’s new COVID regulations, Caribbean Airlines was mandated to reduce the number of domestic air bridge flights between Trinidad and Tobago to three from April 30.
“The Tobago Business Chamber wishes to express its strongest disappointment and disapproval with the continued scenario and imbroglio of only three flights operating per day between Trinidad and Tobago,” George, who is also an attorney, said.
“It appears palpably absurd that you’re in a scenario where you are saying the country’s international borders are open, but yet your internal border between Trinidad and Tobago is restricted to three flights per day at reduced capacity.
“There appears to be no justification, logic, reason, science, or statistics that have been presented to support such a position.
“We call upon the government to immediately take steps to bring the flights back to the full number of flights, even if you want a reduced capacity on the flights for social distancing, there is absolutely no reason that we have seen to date for there being only three flights per day.”
He said that the country was entering what was traditionally the vacation period for many parents.
George added that many families would love to take their children to Tobago and again called on the government to reopen the beaches, bars, and restaurants in Tobago by accelerating the vaccination programme.
He called for the rollout of the vaccination programme to be done in a more aggressive fashion and for the authorities to embark upon a very sustained marketing campaign to encourage and convince Tobagonians to be fully vaccinated in the shortest possible time so that Tobago reaches herd immunity in order to fully open back.
George decried that it was not good for the economy, business, the people of Tobago and Trinidad because most people from Trinidad depended on Tobago as their vacation getaway.
He asked rhetorically what’s the point of going to Tobago and the beaches and bars are closed and you can’t go to a restaurant to have dinner, it made no sense.
George declared that the government needed to prioritise the vaccination drive in Tobago, ramp up marketing to convince Tobagonians to get vaccinated and take whatever steps necessary so that every aspect of the Tobago economy can be reopened as quickly as possible.
