From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Controversy at Provo, Turks & Caicos Airport
By Hayden Boyce SUN Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Mar 10, 2012 - 3:35:15 PM
A major controversy that is taking place at the Providenciales
International Airport, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, could be headed
for the law courts. The row has to do with the decision by the Turks and
Caicos Islands Airport Authority (TCIAA) to enter into a joint-venture
agreement with a US company, Servisair, to provide ground handling
services at the Providenciales International Airport.
Albray Butterfield Jnr. of TCA Handling, Lyndon Gardiner of Air Turks
and Caicos/Provo Air Centre and Shaun Malcolm and Joshua Harvey of Sky
Blue Aviation, have all expressed outrage about this move by the TCIAA.
They are even more upset about the fact that their appeals to Governor
Ric Todd, Attorney General Huw Shepheard and the Interim Government are
not being given urgent, serious or fair attention.
In fact, Butterfield felt so strongly about the matter that he wrote to
United Kingdom (UK) Members of Parliament, including Henry Bellingham,
Andrew Rosindell, Sir John Stanley, Mike Gapes and Richard Ottaway,
saying that “from August of 2009 when the UK intervened and imposed
direct rule over the TCI, and ensuing, installed an interim government
to administer the affairs of the country, the local economy has gone
from bad, to worse.”
In confirming that it has entered into an agreement with Servisair, the
TCIAA said this was motivated by the demand from air carriers that
provide services to the travelling public at the Airport for additional
ground handling services.
Servisair SAS owns 70 percent shares in the company and the TCIAA has 30
percent. The TCIAA said the motivation for the Airports Authority
entering into this joint venture was to generate a revenue stream for
the Authority.
In a press statement, the TCIAA said: The board of directors of the
joint venture company, Servisair PLS, consists of three members, two of
which are nominated by Servisair SAS and the other by the Airports
Authority. The member nominated by the Authority is the present Chairman
of the Authority’s board of directors. Servisair PLS is managed and
operated by its own chief executive officer and staff and independently
of the management of Airports Authority. The full Board of Directors of
the Airports Authority reviewed the progress of the joint venture
agreement since the inception of negotiations with Servisair SAS and
approved the entry into the agreement in October 2011. Any interested
person may view the documentation pertaining to the joint venture
agreement between the Airports Authority and Servisair SAS by making an
appointment with the office of the Authority’s Chief Executive Officer.”
In his strongly-worded letter, Butterfield, who noted that TCA Handling
Co. (TCAH) has a local aviation ground service provider in the Turks and
Caicos Islands for past 21 years, said he wished to bring to the
attention of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) business community, and
the world that the TCI is fast becoming a country that is “no longer a
fair and competitive environment to invest and conduct business”.
Butterfield stated: “TCAH is not objecting and will not object to the
introduction of new competition to the industry; fair competition is
good for any industry. However, what we are objecting and protesting, is
the United Kingdom's (UK) interim government administration and its
local Advisory Council for having consented to, and has allowed its
statutory government agency to enter into a joint venture for the
express purpose of directly competing against local business
enterprises, thus creating an unfair and uncompetitive business
environment within the industry at a time when the TCI's local economy
is at rock bottom and local enterprises are struggling to keep persons
employed and their doors open. All local business enterprises are
currently fighting to meet their financial obligation, coupled with all
of the newly introduced taxes, fees and surcharges that have come into
effect within the last three years, and we all are bracing ourselves for
additional taxes, fees and surcharges which are to come into force
within the coming years.”
He added: “Therefore, how is it possible for local business enterprises
to effectively compete with a government joint ventured entity, when the
government does not pay, or have to pay the same taxes, fees and
surcharges that the local business enterprises have to pay? And when the
government is bond by statute to pay its fair share to another agency
within the government, the government still does not pay when it is
required to pay, the bills are deferred for a later date, and when the
bills accumulate to the point where the government is unable or
unwilling to pay, the government has the ability use its powers to enact
legislation to have the amount forgiven, such as the interim government
did recently in November of 2011, when it enacted the National
Insurance (Waiver of Additional Charge) Ordinance 2011, in order to
waive and forgiven the penalties that was levied on the TCI government
for non-payment of its National Insurance contributions. Whereas, when
local business enterprises are not in a position to pay it taxes, fees
and surcharges, the government takes the local business enterprise to
court under statute to force it to pay and to embarrass the management.”
“Interim government administration is allowing the Turks and Caicos
Islands to become an economic failed State.” Albray said the government
joint ventured entity's overheads will be much lower than that of the
local business enterprises, and in addition, the government joint
ventured entity is now in the position when soliciting clients business,
to claim the fact that the TCI government's Airports Authority is their
joint ventured partner and that they could offer various concessions.
“In light of the above mentioned, the business environment within the
industry has now become non-competitive and unfair. This government
joint ventured entity will eventually force the current local business
enterprises out of the industry by making it impossible to compete
fairly, which will result in the local business enterprises having to
dismissing all of its employees and close its doors,” the businessman
said.
He continued: “From August of 2009 when the UK intervened and imposed
direct rule over the TCI, and ensuing, installed an interim government
to administer the affairs of the country, the local economy has gone
from bad, to worse, to an environmental of survival of the fittest;
things are getting worse by the day. But what is more frightening and a
tragedy is that this UK interim government administration is allowing
the Turks and Caicos Islands to become an economic failed State. Also
troubling and perplexing about this administration, is how out of touch
the local Advisory Council is when it comes to the cries of the TCI
people. They seem to have no clue as to what is happening on the ground
within the TCI or what to do in order to correct the problems, because
if they did, a lot of the decisions that were taken over the past three
years would have been different; such as consenting to the decision made
by the TCIAA's Board to enter into a joint venture to directly compete
against local business enterprises to force us out of the business.
Therefore, in the interest of fair, honest and transparent competition
we are calling on the local Advisory Council and H. E. Governor Todd to
bring an end to this government joint venture, and focus their efforts
on trying to stimulate the local TCI economy, instead of doing
everything possible to further destroy the TCI.”
SHUAN MALCOM AND JOSHUA HARVEY WRITE TO TCIAA
In a letter which Shuan Malcolm and Joshua Harvey wrote to the TCIAA on
Februry 6tth 2012, it was noted that on July 29, 2011 John Smith
informed SkyBlue Aviation that SkyBlue’s request for ground handling
services at PLS had been denied by the TCIAA Board because, according to
Mr. Smith, the TCIAA had entered into a joint venture agreement and
contract with an “international conglomerate”.
The letter stated: “When pressed for the name of the international
conglomerate John Smith replied Servisair. SkyBlue requested that John
Smith put the denial and reason for the denial in writing but that
document was not received until August 8, 2011. Immediately after that
with John Smith Governor Gordon Wetherell denied, via telephone, having
any knowledge of a joint venture between the TCIAA and any international
conglomerate. On the same day Ms. Robin Ward of Servisair was contacted
and questioned over the telephone while two prominent persons
intentionally eavesdropped to document the accuracy of Ms. Ward’s
statements during that telephone call. Ms. Ward unequivocally denied any
joint venture or contract between Servisair and the TCIAA or TCIG and
re-confirmed a meeting scheduled for August 8, 2011 in Miami with
SkyBlue Aviation to further discuss a proposal for SkyBlue Aviation to
joint venture with Servisair.
“Coincidently, a cancellation by Robin Ward of SkyBlue Aviation’s Miami
meeting with Servisair scheduled for August 8, 2011 occurred just 30
minutes after receipt of a letter from John Smith incorrectly denying
SkyBlue Aviation’s approval for commercial Aircraft handling Services
and fuel re-sale because SkyBlue Aviation does not “have the appropriate
license or permit” when in fact a Ground Handling License and an
Aviation Fuel Services license had already been issued to SkyBlue
Aviation Ltd on August 1, 2011. In regards to disparaging remarks that
you have made reference to in your most recent correspondence, I am not
aware of such as that was certainly not the intent of any member on our
team. However, if the venting of our obvious frustrations has mistakenly
led you to that conclusion, then you have our sincerest apologies.
Malcolm and Harvey said SkyBlue Aviation was informed by Martin Stanley,
the TCIG CEO at the time, that in a meeting held in October 2010 and
attended by Permanent Secretary Arthur Been and John Smith, the CEO had
stated unequivocally that the Airport Authority was a regulator and
could not at the same time compete in the industry and therefore could
not enter into any such ground handling joint venture, only to learn
that the TCIAA has proceeded to do just that, thereby side stepping
SkyBlue's proposal.
They said the SkyBlue team was frustrated further when there appeared to
be some level of deception and covertness on behalf of members of the
Airport Authority when it was discovered that there was “an obvious
circumvention of the transparent, normal, and if I might add,
legitimately prescribed modus operandi of the board” in that the alleged
joint venture between the TCIAA and Servisair was seemingly done
outside of a Board meeting and with only the Chairman, the CEO and one
other member even having knowledge of that arrangement and the remaining
four members of the Board had no knowledge until the question was asked
in this most recent meeting on January, 28 2012 which was requested by
SkyBlue.
The letter to the TCIAA added: “SkyBlue principals were alarmed to say
the least, that considering the governmental structure and far reaching
power of the interim Administration, that such a high level joint
venture between a government statutory body and an international company
involving the International Airport in Providenciales, could have been
executed without the knowledge and sanction of the attorney general's
office, the Governor or the country's Chief Executive officer. This
issue is even more troubling considering the fact that as has already
been pointed out, the Chief Executive Officer had previously informed
the board that such a joint venture undertaking including the authority
was definitely not possible.”
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