TTAL mum on award of Sunwing contract to director

A director of the Tobago Tourism Agency Limited (TTAL) has reportedly landed a contract for ground handling of tourists on the Sunwing charter flights from Toronto, prompting concerned Tobagonians to ask whether this a case of conflict of interest.

Contacted for comment on Monday, the director declined comment.

Sunwing began it’s first weekly flight to Tobago on December 20 from the Lester B Pearson International Airport in Toronto to Tobago with 127 passengers aboard. It will operate the service until April 18.

On learning of the news of the contract being awarded to a TTAL director, Tobagonians took to social media querying the selection process, whether there was a conflict of interest in the award, and about the transparency of the process.

A TTAL source noted that the director was owner of the oldest tour representative company in Tobago with decades of ground handling experience but could not say how exactly this contract was awarded to the company.

Contacted for comment on the contract to the director, TTAL’s chief executive officer Louis Lewis asked that Newsday Tobago call back in an hour’s time as he was in a meeting. However, all calls to Lewis thereafter went unanswered.

He did say in the initial call, however, that Sunwing subsequent flights on December 27 and January 3 arrived in Tobago with 136 and 76 passengers respectively.

Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, who is currently acting as Secretary of Tourism, could not be reached for comment.