First off I would like to sincerely thank the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, for allowing me the opportunity to serve on such a distinguished Board for the past two years.

It is within the purview of Government to appoint, and to disappoint as they see fit, and I accept the decision.

My time at Caribbean Airlines was a hectic one, during which the Board, led by Mr. Rabindra Moonan, worked diligently in trying to deal with a very challenging and often difficult state enterprise, Caribbean Airlines.

I am proud that we gave our best in this regard, and our commitment has always been to help the airline become something the country will be proud of, and be profitable.

The challenges facing Caribbean Airlines are not new, and in fact were exacerbated by the volatility of the airline industry, particularly in the past two years while the board has been in effect.

Everything we have done has been communicated to the Ministers with responsibility for CAL over that time.

Unfortunately in trying to rectify some of the internal problems at CAL, including issues with staff and Management, Chairman Moonan and I in particular, became targets of misinformation leaked to the media in an attempt to bring our names into disrepute, and try to derail the work we were doing.

I stand by my earlier statement, that I did nothing outside the guidelines for all members of state boards and that all proper channels were followed. For anyone within the airline to insinuate differently is dishonest and clearly designed to defame me. I will consider all legal options in this regard.

I can only hope that the new Board continues to be strong, and I would like to wish the new Chairman and members all success in their endeavours at Caribbean Airlines.

Mohan Jaikaran