Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is looking for formal discussions on sharing the monetary advantages generated from the Piarco Flight Data Area (FIR) — an enormous stretch of Jap Caribbean airspace at present managed solely by Trinidad and Tobago.
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At a press convention on Friday, Prime Minister Gonsalves described the present association as outdated and unjust, arguing that Trinidad and Tobago reaps all of the income from a area of airspace that spans a number of sovereign states.
“They make the cash from the area that’s a part of our property,” Gonsalves mentioned, including that the state of affairs raises critical issues round transparency, accountability, and equity.
The Piarco FIR (TTZP) extends roughly from Antigua within the north to Trinidad within the south, and as far east as halfway throughout the Atlantic towards Africa — encompassing airspace above a number of impartial Jap Caribbean nations. Though initially organized throughout the colonial interval by British authorities and a personal agency, the area has remained beneath Trinidad and Tobago’s management since independence, a setup established beneath the management of former Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams.
In response to Gonsalves, this has successfully excluded international locations like Barbados and members of the Organisation of Jap Caribbean States (OECS) from taking part in or benefiting from the administration of this airspace — regardless of it overlaying their sovereign territories.
“There isn’t a transparency within the accounting, no visibility into how the funds generated are being distributed, and no involvement from the international locations whose airspace is affected,” Gonsalves said.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that airspace governance can appear technically advanced however burdened that the core concern is easy: Caribbean nations are being denied a share of the income from the usage of their very own skies.
He additionally identified the distinction with French abroad territories like Martinique and Guadeloupe, which keep a post-colonial airspace settlement with the UK that enables for a extra equitable distribution of management and profit.
Whereas no timeline has been set, Gonsalves expressed hope that regional dialogue might be initiated quickly to handle what he sees as an imbalance in each authority and income sharing inside the Piarco FIR.
The matter is more likely to characteristic prominently in upcoming Caribbean Neighborhood (CARICOM) and OECS discussions, as regional governments search larger inclusion in managing shared sources.
