Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog wishes all our US-based friends, a Happy Independence Day (4th of July)!
The United States of America (USA) is now 232 years old!
(The USA became independent in 1776.)
Wow!... that's quite a number of years for a democracy!
To our US-based friends, we hope your day has been going great and that you've been enjoying your time with family and friends!
Again, Happy Independence Day!
Gillian
The names of the members of the new Air Jamaica Board were announced, yesterday, by Senator Don Wehby, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance.
[The previous Board was asked to resign last Wednesday, to make way for a new Board with the financial savvy to negotiate the divestment of the airline. The current Board has been reduced from fourteen (14) to nine (9) members.]
They are as follows:
Previous Members Who Remain:
New Members:
Senator Wehby has given the new Board the following mandate, to be met by March 2009:
1) Stabilize the losses of the airline, which are currently at USD $10 million/month
2) Restructure the airline
3) Divest the airline by March 2009.
[Air Jamaica has been racking up losses to the tune of USD $560 million (JMD $ 40 billion) for the past three (3) years, but has continuously been in a loss position for the past twenty (20) years.
(The airline has lost USD $85 million since January 2008.)
However, the airline's revenue has been approximately USD $350 million/year.]
Senator Wehby, in an effort to further curtail losses, will be requiring that the sixty (60) Members of Parliament and twenty-one (21) Senators who, along with their spouses, are entitled to four, first class tickets per year, will willingly have this reduced to two (2), first class tickets and eventually zero first class tickets, each.
(The cost of a first class ticket ranges from JMD $150,000 - 300,000)
He reported that negotiations via the Internatinal Finance Corporation (the Financing arm of the World Bank) for a buyer for the airline are going well and that the airline has received USD $1 million and USD $800,000 grants, respectively, from the World Bank and the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), to help with this process.
Ideally, he would like to see an ownership structure of 50-60% for the buyer, 20% by the Government of Jamaica and 20% Employee Owned (under an ESOP - Employee Share Ownership Plan.)
The Board and himself are now scouting for a CEO who will manage the day-to-day operations of the airline. They have a short-list of 2-3 applicants which include David Banmiller.
Sources Include:
1) Article, "Air Jamaica revamped - New board named, David Banmiller tipped to be new Air Jamaica CEO", by Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter, Jamaica Gleaner, July 3, 2008
2) Cliff Hughes' Interview with Don Wehby, on his TV Programme, "Impact", July 2,2008.
3) Article, "Air J Board asked to resign", by Vernon Davidson, Executive Editor - Publications, Jamaica Observer, June 25,2008
Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog is proud to introduce you to our new sister site, GWAP Mobistore(www.GWAPMobistore.com)!
...Where you can get get the best Bling for your Mobile/Smart phone!
Get Cool Wallpapers (Screen Savers), Ringtones, Logos, Java Games, to spruce up the way your Mobile/Smart phone looks and sounds!
Play cool Java games while commuting (travelling) or waiting for someone, who's a bit late!
Or get unique Ringtones that make you and your Mobile/Smart phone stand out from the crowd.
You can even upload your favorite Picture to your Mobile/Smart phone, via this site!
So visit GWAP Mobistore (www.GWAPMobistore.com), today, to get the best Mobile Bling and Entertainment on the market!
(Warning!..this site is highly addictive and may contain adult content from time to time!
GWAP Mobistore is only available to customers in the USA, Europe, Argentina and Venezuela, for now.)
(The inset picture above, shows two young women playing mobile games while they commute to work.)
Gillian
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