Minister of Tourism and International Transport Kerrie Symmonds has identified grave concerns he has with the management of the Grantley Adams International Airport and the Civil Aviation Department and is warning them he is prepared to take serious action.
“We can’t have people working at a gate as part of a security team, protecting the airport’s aerodrome – and by extension the country’s reputation and financial interests – and then something as simple as using the bathroom, to have to call the main terminal for transport to carry them to a bathroom because there are no appropriate facilities there.
“I am discontented with that and if my board of directors cannot get this situation corrected and if my team of management cannot see the urgency of getting this situation corrected, then a radical revision of all that takes place in the administration is called for,” he said.
Symmonds also mentioned rumours of staff victimisation following a meeting they had with him and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.“We invited the staff to share [their issues] with us so we as policymakers could understand what their concerns are and where we are going wrong so we can uplift this vital aviation sector [and in turn] lift up the Barbados economy which will ultimately feed every household in this country. Lo and behold I then hear rumours that people who came to speak to me and my Prime Minister are then visited by acts of victimisation.”
He warned “I hope these are just rumours,but even so I want it investigated with urgency, because if it is inaccurate then there is nothing to worry about but I would be absolutely intolerant of a situation of that nature being true and if so, it will be visited with the closest form of inspection a minister of Government can give,” he said.(CA)
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