BWIA bosses not honest - Manning By Gail Alexander Guardian 0.23.03 As international creditors seized a second BWIA plane yesterday, Prime Minister Patrick Manning made it clear Government may "wash its hands" completely of the airline. Manning has also accused BWIA's management of not being honest, saying the airline did not use US$5million (TT$31.25 million) released by Government on Tuesday to bail it out of debt to creditors in a proper manner. "When we were being told US$5 million was to be applied to a particular problem, the following day, we're being told that of the US$5 million, US$1.5 million is going in one direction and US$3.5 million in the next," Manning said in a post-Cabinet news briefing at Whitehall. "I think the time has come for me to make this statement: that those in BWIA who were reporting to the Government have not been as forthright with Government as they ought to be. All the facts we've now come to realise are not known to us," he added. Government issued a letter of comfort to BWIA for US$5 million on Tuesday after the International Leasing Finance Corporation (ILFC) took possession of an aircraft at Miami International Airport. Even as that plane was due back yesterday, a second aircraft was impounded by ILFC in Miami. A Cabinet subcommittee was due to meet yesterday afternoon to discuss the seizure, Manning told reporters. However, the Finance Ministry last night said the meeting had been postponed to this morning to allow members to gather more information. As a result, a special Cabinet session would be held later today to consider the report of the subcommittee, a Finance source said yesterday. Earlier at the news briefing, Manning said it should not be expected that Government will pull BWIA out again. "It is by no means a foregone conclusion that the Government will bail BWIA out any further, it is by no means so. We thought we had done so with the first aircraft, only to find that a second aircraft has been seized." Asked if he was in a mood to possibly wash his hands of BWIA, Manning replied: "It is not to be ruled out.... it is not to be ruled out." On whether the airline's crises were being strategically timed, he also said: "I cannot say the crises are not being strategically timed." As for what will take place, he added: "Let's wait until the subcommittee reports and then we'll decide what takes place afterwards." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************