Leaders to discuss high cost of intra-regional travel

Antigua and Barbuda says it intends raising the issue of the high cost of intra-regional travel when Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders meet in Barbados for their inter-sessional summit next year.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne, replying to a letter sent by Dalano R DaSouza, spokesperson for a group called Citizens Against High Intra-Regional Caribbean Travel Taxes, said he wanted to assure “that this topic will be raised yet again when the heads of CARICOM Governments meet in February 2020”.

The group, lobbying for a reduction in taxes and fees on intra-regional Caribbean travel, has written to several regional prime ministers, on behalf of 20,180 people who have “come together in opposition to the current cost of intra-regional travel and governments’ role in escalating airfares”.

DaSouza said that over the past several weeks, packages containing copies of the petition bearing more than 20,000 signatures were dispatched to the offices of CARICOM leaders and the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat.

He said the packages also included a letter to each regional leader “cogently outlining the case for dialogue on the vexing issue of high intra-regional Caribbean travel taxes and fees”.

In his December 13 response to that correspondence, Prime Minister Browne, whose twin-island nation is the headquarters for regional airline LIAT, wrote: “Our governments are continuously seeking ways to reduce the cost of travel, believing that it will lead to an increase in travel throughout the region. However, the high cost of operating our airports is a reasonable deterrent.

“Security costs are a primary concern. It is necessary to achieve the same level of security in Antigua that is extant in the major gateways such as Miami, New York, London and Frankfurt.”

Browne added that “security at our airport is no less thorough and no less costly”, even as he acknowledged that the number of flights throughout the region is significantly less than at those major airports.

The Citizens Against High Intra-Regional Caribbean Travel Taxes said that by signing its petition, the people of the region were collectively asking to be heard on the important issue.

“We hope that our leaders see it fit to engage with their constituents on this important matter,” DaSouza said.
(SD/CMC)