Moontown

Oliver Mair

Avia Collinder, Business Writer

The local demand for freshwater fish is on the rebound, but there is no corresponding return to production to fill the gap despite urgings from the state for growers and processors to ramp up output.

An aquaculture fish monitoring committee, created by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to drive the production and gauge supply and demand, has missed an early July deadline to submit a report on the issue.

“They had their first meeting but there is work still to be done,” chief technical director in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Marc Panton, said.

Jamaica suspended fish imports from south-east Asian fish sources in April citing sanitary and phyto-sanitary concerns.

The local consumption market is now looking to Jamaican processors for supplies, but the latter are wary that the demand shift might not hold.

Fish farmers lost local market share in 2008 and 2009 when locally produced frozen tilapia fillet were replaced by imported stock mainly from China that sold at half the price of domestic product.

Jamaica Broilers Group, which exported about 100,000 pounds of frozen fillet per week at its peak, had slashed production and later began importing frozen fillet in order to retain customers unwilling to pay high prices.

Following a meeting ministry officials had in May with local fish farmers and processors, Dr Panton reported that production was “a work in progress”.

“I left the meeting feeling it was a good start to the discussion,” he said.

“In general, the mood of the meeting was one of trying to get to a level of cooperation. We left with an understanding of how best to support the sector.”

Panton said Jamaica could reclaim its position as the largest tilapia producer in the Caribbean, noting that in the Jamaican market fast-food chains KFC and Burger King could use as much as 30,000 kilograms of fish fillet monthly.

“We were the largest producer of tilapia in the Caribbean but, due to a liberal trade policy, productive capacity was wiped out,” he said.

“We have the capacity to produce and we want to bring it back.”

But, Jamaica Broilers, which up to early last year, was the largest local producer, is in a wait-and-see mode. Sales Manager Oliver Mair told the Sunday Business after the May meeting that his company was assessing the situation to determine how best to increase production.

“We still produce tilapia. We have never stopped (producing) on the local market,” said Mair.

“We are looking at bumping up production to a point, but for us to revisit it is not a light decision.”

He said then that the meeting was a first step towards that decision. Last week, he said there had been no change in the situation.

“There is no further update from the subcommittee; they are still meeting.”

challenging tilapia market

Mair said compared to poultry production, Broilers’ core business, the tilapia market was much more challenging.

“The poultry industry with 12,000 small farmers who are price competitive towards each other has proven a good model. Fish is different,” he said.

“It takes 18-19 months for production, and cannot be ramped up overnight.”

The local market for tilapia is made up largely of restaurants and hotels. Jamaica Broilers also exported to US grocers Winn-Dixie and Publix, as well as UK-based supermarket chain Tesco, but withdrew from the overseas market in 2008.

There are indications from some local farmers that the proposal of some form of subsidy to the industry might be a welcome suggestion from the aquaculture committee.

But, Panton said in May that providing fingerlings or baby fish stock to some farmers had met with protest from others.

Speaking of price competitiveness, he said those who are comparing Jamaican fish growing and processing operations to the Chinese should note the Asian country’s vast land space, low electricity costs and few security problems which all result in lower production costs.

Development of land fishing, Panton said, would both provide employment and reduce pressure on sea fish. (Jamaica Gleaner)

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com

Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder

Spain’s David Villa - AP photos

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CMC): History will be made whether Spain or the Netherlands win the final of the 2010 World Cup today at Soccer City Stadium.

Neither country has won the title previously, and the triumphant team will join the previous elite seven, which have captured the coveted title in the history of the competition.

It will also mark the first time that a European nation has won the title outside of their continent.

The Netherlands resisted a fightback from Uruguay to win the first semi-final 3-2, and Spain shut down Germany’s free-flowing attack for a 1-0 victory in the second semi-final.

The Netherlands, more commonly called Holland, have been dubbed the best team never to have won the World Cup and were a dominant force in the early 1970s, making the final against West Germany in 1974 and Argentina in 1978 - only to lose on both occasions.

final international appearance

The match will mark the final international appearance for Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, and he is relishing the occasion.

“My last match turns out to be the match that I dreamed of,” he said.

“It is wonderful that I have the opportunity to win the World Cup as my final stop, far better that dying in the group stage.

“Everything has converged at just the right moment. It is fabulous that this World Cup will be the pinnacle of my work.”

The Dutch have been playing their brand of “total football”, which has secured them a lengthy unbeaten streak in the run-up to the final.

They also have a determined and experienced line-up boasting one of the tournament’s joint leading Golden Boot contenders.

Wesley Sneider has five goals - the same as Spain’s David Villa, so these two will also be the centre of attraction.

For Spain, this is first-ever trip to the final for the reigning European champions, and will seek to emulate the 1998 French team that held both titles.

“It’s an even final between two teams that deserve to be here,” said Spain coach Vicente del Bosque. “We’ve got good players but so do they. It’s going to be great propaganda for world football.”

Spain have allowed the fewest goals scored against them in the competition, and their front line is yet to fully click, so they can be expected to step up in a thrilling finish.

The air of familiarity between the two teams also makes for a closely contested chess match, with the team making the fewer mistakes likely claim the title.

Holland moved through under the radar with little pressure to perform and this may be third time lucky for them, while Spain will feel pressured to deliver their first title.

It all makes for a thrilling conclusion to the first World Cup on African soil.

Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar (right) and her sister Wattie Newton at the final night function of the CARICOM Heads of Governments meeting in Montego Bay last Wednesday night. - Photo by Janet Silvera

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Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU: Kamla Persad-Bissessar, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, entered the final night party for the 31st CARICOM Heads of Government conference in Montego Bay, St James, at 9:50, two hours after the scheduled start time last Wednesday night, and all other leaders in the room instantly became backbenchers.

That is the power and charm of the dynamo who, the people of the Republic of ‘Socaland’ have chosen as their first female prime minister.

There is music in her soul and voluntary or not, it is difficult for her to be around this incredible vibration and sit still. So it came as no surprise when Errol Lee and the Bare Essentials drew for Ragga Ragga, the true Kamla appeared, with microphone in hand.

The woman’s spirit and soul is lifted by the words from Redemption Song and Three Little Birds from the impressive catalogue of the late king of reggae, Robert Nesta ‘Bob’ Marley.

No one dared get Kamla off the stage as she became an integral part of the immensely talented party band.

The ‘energiser bunny’, who had sat through all the meetings of the Heads of Government Conference and who called her own press conferences almost daily, still had enough in her to take over the entire ballroom of the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa.

Before long, she succeeded in getting all her colleagues on the stage, including Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

“Look like I may have to be afraid of you, because look at how you turn this place upside down,” quipped Golding, declaring his hands early, “I run against many people before, but I wouldn’t want to run against you,” Golding said laughingly.

Persad-Bissessar was as excited to be in the midst of the people who had come to respect and admire her tenacity and who welcomed her with open arms.

“I am happy to be back home, this is my second home and I want to thank the people of Jamaica who have helped me to be who I am. Those songs you are hearing, I sang them almost every night on my campaign to become prime minister,” she revealed.

“I have been so impressed over the last three days, in particular with Prime Minister Golding, he held this conference together and at the end of it, he made sure we had meaningful discussions and, more importantly, decisions were made.”

clear message

In the next breath, the Trinidadian prime minister was sending a clear message to her opponents, “I am supposed to be in a local government election, but I took one day off. When I get back, we will get in it,” she declared.

But it was her one-on-one interview with The Sunday Gleaner that had this writer in awe, “I get my energy from God; during my campaign, I said put God in front.”

When asked what role Bob Marley played in this, she responded, “Bob Marley was blessed by God with his voice; long after he has passed away his songs remain, they are universal messages throughout the world.”

She revealed in no time how she used almost all of the reggae icon’s songs, her two favourites being Redemption Song and Three Little Birds, with No Woman No Cry in third place, “To lift my spirit, lift my soul, anywhere you go in the world, people are inspired by Bob Marley.”

She then started to sing the words, “Old Pirates yes they rob I, sold I to the merchant ship, minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit, but my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty.”

“That lifted me throughout my campaign,” Persad-Bissessar added.

jamaican relationship

The region’s fourth female head of government started her relationship with Jamaica when she came here to study at the University of the West Indies, Mona. She later became a lecturer in the language and linguistics department at the university, while her husband, Gregory, did medicine.

Still later, she taught at the St Andrew High School For Girls, and after 14 years living in this country, she said, “The spirit of the people, their resilience and soul, their tremendous sense of patriotism,” became the reasons for her admiration of the Jamaicans.

“Anywhere in the world Jamaicans are, they have a tremendous sense of dedication to their homeland, and if the rest of us in the Caribbean could take an example of that, we would be the example that your home is your home.”

She said that she has accepted that the people of the region come from different parts of the globe, but what she doesn’t accept is the idea of, “A Mother Africa; there is no Mother Africa, no Mother India, no Mother China, no Mother Europe, but you know what?” she asked.

“There is Grandmother Africa, Grandmother India; whatever we are, those roots are what shape us. The people who came just created this multiplicity, this diversity of talent and in the Caribbean we are so blessed to have this melting pot of people.”

For the Trinidadian prime minister, the thing that pushes her hardest now is the need to take care of the region’s future - the children. “I have seen enough throughout life that as a mother with a maternal in-stinct that brings the love and the joy to help a child.

“The children are our future; whatever we can do for the children, I will do and I will try, I hope Jamaica will buy into my plan to have the ‘Caribbean Life Fund’. If we don’t help our children, what type of people are we, animals?”

She said the first duty is to the children, “The adults will live and build whatever, but our first duty should be our children.”

Her sister Wattie Newton, who left her job as a regional business manager of a pharmaceuticals company in London, England, six months ago to assist her on the campaign trail, nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s her, she is a fantastic person, lovely, a people person, loves family,” said Newton.

According to Newton, she may or may not return to England, depending on how settled her sister becomes.

making history

Persad-Bissessar made history as the first female head of government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in May 2010, leading her party, the United National Congress (UNC) and a coalition of other parties into power.

She entered representational politics in 1987 and in 1994 was selected as an opposition government senator for the UNC. In the general election of 1995, she was elected member of parliament for the Siparia region where she was born.

Then Prime Minister Basdeo Panday named her his attorney general and minister of legal affairs. She held other senior ministerial positions, including minister of education, until 2001 when the UNC was booted out of office.

But Persad-Bissessar won the Siparia constituency and in 2006 rose to be the leader of the opposition.

Since January 2010, she has also been the political leader of the UNC after a bitter battle with Panday and his loyalists.

Now Persad-Bissessar is leading Trinidad and Tobago through the worst economic crisis the world has seen in decades, and while history will judge her performance, it does not need time for the region to know that she has the energy and the drive for the job.

Those who doubt it just need to ask those who were left in her wake as she took centre stage at her first CARICOM Heads of Government meeting. (Jamaica Gleaner)

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com

By Andy Johnson Kingston

AT the “Jamaica Night” party to wrap up the 31st Caricom Heads of Government conference in Montego Bay Wednesday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar arrived well into the session. She swept onto the dance floor almost immediately and began swirling around, to the beat of the golden oldies reggae and rock steady music from the live band.

In seconds, she was making rings around the conference and the party host, Jamaica Prime Minister Bruce Golding. Shortly thereafter she was up on the stage. She grabbed a microphone and was singing the lyrics of “One Love”, the Bob Marley anthem that had formed part of her campaign repertoire for the May 24 general election that brought her to the prime ministership in Trinidad and Tobago.

She beckoned to the other leaders at the jump up and without a murmur they went. Next thing she was leading a chorus. She was moving the mic from one of her colleagues to the other, turning them into a bunch of willing accomplices. Grenada’s Tillman Thomas, Dr Denzil Douglas of St Kitts and Nevis and Stephenson King of St Lucia made up the front line, Dr Douglas belting out the most lustily and distinctively of the group.

The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, the only woman in the club of leaders, had stolen the show. The audience loved it, and they loved her for what appeared to them to be her daring. And when this was over, she would go elsewhere with part of her entourage, to a club on the city’s “hip strip”.

Somehow, it appeared nearing the end of this visit, that Jamaica was destined to be the first place Kamla would visit after becoming Prime Minister.

After the days of tough talking, she was showing another side of herself.

Earlier that very day she had created speculation over the future regional security apparatus which had been the project of her predecessor in office to deliver. During late-night discussions the previous night on the subject, leaders had balked at a suggestion she made to put a US$2 tax on passengers travelling in and through the region from outside. Others complained it could ruin their tourism industry. Fine, she said. Trinidad and Tobago will not be able to fund the programme to the extent that had been promised. She said one of her officers wondered whether Port of Spain was not being seen an ATM machine. You just stick your card in and money comes out.

It turned out to have been the phrase of the summit, picked up two days later by the volunteers at a project called the “Mustard Seed”. It is a non-profit organisation run by Trinidad-born Monsignor Gregory Ramkissoon, dedicated to making life easier for homeless and abandoned children, some of them with HIV/AIDS, others with severe mental and physical difficulties.

Kamla was moved almost to tears during a visit to that facility. Journalists as well as members of her delegation on the tour cried at what they were witnessing. She sat in a classroom with a group of pre-schoolers who sang to her “welcome to Jamaica, land of food and WATA. We glad fah yuh come ya, welcome to Jamaica.”

Caregivers and volunteers at this facility are overwhelmingly women. This would have gone to the heart of the message this Prime Minister has been spreading, as she seeks to build a social edifice on the need to support and strengthen endeavours of women, in the work they do to raise and nurture children.

In a speech she delivered elsewhere at that facility, during the short appreciation ceremony to mark her visit, Kamla would ask Monsignor Ramkissoon and his staff of volunteers to “please indulge me if I say that every country should have a Mustard Seed”.

She made a personal financial contribution to the work of this mission, telling the Monsignor “it may not be all you need, but it is a mustard seed that will grow”.

If she hadn’t shed tears at “Mustard Seed” on Friday, it may have only been because Kamla was determined not to repeat what happened on Thursday, when she led an emotional tour of the Mona Campus at the UWI, where she studied and then worked during the 1970s.

As part of the “homecoming” at the Girls High School, the current principal, Sharon Reid, read a recommendation given Kamla by the principal of the school at the time, when she wanted to move on from there, after a year.

It talked about how from that early, she had shown a willingness “to take advice”, that she was “a friendly person who gets along well with others”. Speaking afterwards, she said that school was where she began “to learn the bonds of sisterhood” and to inculcate the lesson that “as a woman you can do anything you put your mind to”. Several of the girls she taught then had gone on to occupy positions of management and leadership, principal Reid said. More than a dozen of them were on hand to greet her. One of them, Denise Kitson, was beaming.

But it was her colleague host, Prime Minister Golding who best exemplified the force with which Kamla Persad-Bissessar talked, sang and danced her way into the hearts of many Jamaicans, on his her first “homecoming” after being elected Prime Minister.

When he spoke on the stage at the party at the Rose Hall Resort on MoBay, Golding said she had “turned this place up”. He was unusually at a loss for words. Again, when he spoke the next day at the cement company function, he said it was “an extreme pleasure and an honour to have worked with her over the previous four days”. He would say again later that evening. “She has so much passion for the causes that she has identified, she has been bubbling,” he said. (Trinidad Express)

By Akile Simon akile.simon@trinidadexpress.com

The former People’s National Movement (PNM) government must take full responsibility for the delay in the delivery of the three multi-billion-dollar offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), which were the first of its kind to be built by BAE Systems at Portsmouth Naval Base, England.

So said Captain Gary Griffith, security adviser to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. For the first time, a Government official is publicly stating the reasons behind the delay of the vessels, the first of which was to be delivered to T&T in May last year.

The delivery date was further pushed back and former prime minister Patrick Manning had indicated the first OPV, Coast Guard 50 (CG 50), was scheduled to arrive in T&T this month, with the other two by December 2010 and March 2011 respectively.

The OPVs, Manning had said, would be part of an integrated security network to protect the nations of the southern Caribbean from the operations of transnational arms and drug smugglers. That initiative also proposed the establishment of coastal radar systems in Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Manning’s government signed a £150 million contract in April 2007 with VT Shipbuilding to build and commission the vessels. VT is now called BVT Surface Fleet, following a merger with BAE Systems.

When contacted yesterday, former national security minister Martin Joseph refused to comment on the matter. “I have no comment on that, sir. None whatsoever,” he said.

The company’s website said the first vessel was expected to be delivered to T&T in May 2010 while the other two vessels are set for delivery later this year and were being built at its yard in Scotstoun on the Clyde in Glasgow, England.

According to Griffith, the vessels, together with the acquisition of four helicopters, could cost taxpayers more than the projected $5 billion.

He said the vessels were the first of its kind being built by BAE Systems, and that the PNM government had bypassed two other bidders who had the boats the Coast Guard initially required.

Griffith said, “It was a bad business decision on the part of the [PNM] government. This vessel is what is known as ‘first of class’ in naval terms, which means it’s the first time the company is attempting to build a vessel based on the specs we demanded.

“They had to start from scratch and make a mould, indicative of the requirements of the T&T Coast Guard and government. Because of that, that is why you get these flaws. Since it’s the first time they are attempting to make such a model, you would get irregularities and certain defects.

“The vessels [that BAE had in stock] did not have that capability as demanded by the Coast Guard, and the agents were forced to improvise into making something [new], and that’s what caused the situation,” Griffith said.

He said it was rather strange BAE was the highest bidder; even though the company did not possess the specifications required, it was still awarded the contract. The Sunday Express understands German and Italian firms also tendered bids, with the German firm bidding the lowest.

Griffith said, “It is pathetic that the previous government could jump into a contract like this, make a decision like this when there were other countries that had the type of vessel that we wanted. I spoke to several senior members of the T&T Coast Guard who had recommended another type of vessel from another country.

“For some strange, questionable reason, we decided to go with another agent, to purchase a vessel that we knew that there might be manufacturer’s defects because it was the first time it was being built. Now, our backs are against the wall,” Griffith added.

Certain reports, Griffith said, have been submitted to Persad-Bissessar, and a final decision will be taken very soon.

The issue regarding the OPVs was raised by Caricom leaders at their summit held in Montego Bay in Jamaica last week. Persad-Bissessar said it would be difficult for T&T to proceed with the purchase of the vessels because of several delays in delivery and electrical problems.

Griffith said the 65-plus sailors who have been in London, waiting to bring the first vessel home since last year, have expressed legitimate concerns which the Government intends to address.

“The morale of the officers could be very low and it was unfair, and at the same time very costly, to have them in the position they are in right now,” he said. The officers are being housed at the Holiday Inn hotel in Portsmouth and the Erskine Bridge Hotel in Glasgow.

The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has provided operational sea training for the T&T crew.

According to Griffith, because there was value for such vessels, the Government intends to ensure they are seaworthy and possess the required capabilities requested by the Coast Guard.

One of the defects, he said, is shots cannot be fired electronically from within the vessel by its personnel, which was very dangerous.

When the Sunday Express contacted head of External Affairs at BAE Kristina Crowe, she said the company was not aware issues have been raised by the T&T Government regarding the OPVs.

Crowe later sent an e-mail response which stated: “BAE Systems continues to work extremely closely with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and remains confident of delivering the full capability of the three offshore patrol vessels for the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard.”

The company has set up an office at Staubles Bay in Chaguaramas to facilitate additional training and maintenance of the OPVs.

According to the company’s website, the 90-metre vessels can remain at sea for 35 days, with a maximum speed of 25.8 knots and will be used for a range of Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) management tasks, from tackling drug smuggling to helping with disaster relief in the region.

Under the 2007 agreement singed in Port of Spain, BAE Systems agreed to provide training and five years in-service support to the T&T Coast Guard when the vessels are delivered.

The first vessel, which has been built, was involved in a successful rescue operation while on a test run earlier this year.

BAE’s website has a video of the vessel being taken for its “final” test out at sea in May of this year. (Trinidad Express)

By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan intends to seek expert advice from Queens Counsel to determine whether there was any wrongdoing in a matter involving former public administration minister Kennedy Swaratsingh where he ignored warnings days before the general election from lawyers in his ministry about a loan which could cost taxpayers up to a $1 billion by default.

Ramlogan, in an interview with the Sunday Express by phone yesterday, claimed the matter has now placed this country in a bind which he is trying to get out of.

He explained a company by the name of Transcorp was in debt to the tune of US$20 million and no bank would give this company a loan.

He said therefore a shell company by the name of Broadgate was established and the State took US$20 million from the Treasury to guarantee a loan which was taken from the Barbados branch of First Caribbean International Bank.

Transcorp was in debt to the tune of US$20m to the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

The loan was used to pay off UTT and some was to be used to construct a building.

Ramlogan said not only did the former People’s National Movement government act as guarantor of the loan for Broadgate but also guaranteed that it would rent a building which was to be constructed (through the loan) on a piece of land owned by the company. No price was fixed for the rent.

Ramlogan said this company could have spent any amount of money at will because the State was placed in a position where it had to repay and was liable to the tune of $1 billion.

“The magnitude of the transaction and the timing of it and the manner in which it was done whereby all red flags were ignored leads to the inescapable and irresistible inference that this was an extraordinary transaction which merits investigation to ascertain whether there was any wrongdoing. In the circumstances I intend to refer this matter to Queen’s Counsel for analysis and advice to see whether there were any civil remedies available to the State to protect its rights,” Ramlogan said.

The Sunday Express obtained copies of the letters that were sent to Swaratsingh from head of the legal division of the Ministry of Public Administration, Sharon Morris Cummings, as well as attorney Karen Boodhan who warned that the interests of the State were not protected in this deal.

“My requests to have this matter re-negotiated have fallen on deaf ears, particularly that of the honourable minister who was not pleased with the recommendation to have an expert re-evaluate this project before Cabinet makes a decision on whether to proceed further or not with the project.

“It appears to me that the wording of this Note (Cabinet) does not put the issues before Cabinet as it appears to give the impression that all is well with this project. Nothing can be further from the truth and comments on the record contained in various memoranda from the Chief State Solicitor and Solicitor General would bear this out,” stated Cummings in her letter to Swaratsingh, via his Permanent Secretary dated May 19.

She added: “Re-negotiation would have offered the opportunity to put this matter on a footing where the State’s interest was protected. Should the project proceed with its present form, the State is committing to spending over $1 billion for a development that it would not own.”

She warned that there was no ceiling to the limit by Broadgate’s expenditure to which the State will be liable.

“I cannot sit idly by in good conscience and allow Cabinet to be misled and the State to be put at further disadvantage, when it is within the power of right-thinking men and women to do otherwise. I am therefore calling upon the honourable Minister of Public Administration through you, PS, to take all steps to ensure that the note to be presented to Cabinet is balanced and reflective of the realities of this transaction for the guidance of Cabinet. For the avoidance of doubt, I do not support the note in its present form,” stated Cummings.

Boodhan in her letter stated that the consent and agreement of the loan arrangement was “seriously flawed” and there were considerable concerns, “the main one being that this document had the effect of the Government guarantee and being the loan for Broadgate in the event of a default and being made responsible for settling all indebtedness. It now appears that the very effect that was warned against has now come to pass”.

Boodhan also expressed disbelief that negotiations had already taken place between Broadgate, the ministry and the bank without instructions from Cabinet.

“There was no evidence of any instructions in the form of a Cabinet minute to guide these negotiations and no one could have informed me which official in the ministry agreed to the format of the consent and agreement or its terms that were extremely oppressive to the Government.”

The Sunday Express tried to contact Swaratsingh for comment yesterday. However, calls to his cellphone went unanswered.(Trinidad Express)

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The long line of CSEC and CAPE markers leaving the island yesterday.()

The way Grantley Adams International Airport looked yesterday, it seemed like a convention was leaving the island.

This was not far from the truth for, in addition to the regular air traffic, there was a large contingent of Caribbean Secondary Educational Certificate and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination “markers” heading back to their respective homes via a chartered MiamiAir flight.

The line stretched far beyond the area designated for MiamiAir and back along the drop-off area of the airport.

A Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) staff member at the airport who was overseeing the annual exodus, told the SUNDAY SUN logistics and the inability to be accommodated via charter by other airlines, as well as a minor technological error, contributed to the long line. However, she said this was only the second year CXC was chartering a flight for the markers. (CA) (Nation News)