Confused Barbados Underground Blog Forgets What Season It Is…

Merry Christmas To You Too, David!

The ongoing efforts to purge “Christ” from “Christmas” and to replace this traditional Christian holiday with some lukewarm pablum of a national holiday loosely based upon traditional Christmas colours and symbols but not saying the actual “C” word has found a new co-conspirator in Barbados Underground. David’s new banner proudly proclaims “Season’s Greetings” in Christmas colours and symbols.

If David desires to wish our Muslim friends all the best as they celebrate Eid ul-Adha tomorrow, December 8th, then he should perhaps post an Islamic verse about helping the poor etc.. If he wishes to wish Happy Chanukkah to our Jewish friends, then he should consider doing so around December 22nd – and maybe put up a photo of the children playing the dreidel game (“Only with pretzels, of course – bubee can’t stand the children playing for pennies!” says one of my old friends).

And if David wants to wish Christians all the best of their religious holiday called Christmas, then he should do so instead of insulting them by communicating that the word “Christmas” is too foul or volatile to say aloud.

Last year I passed through Kolkata, India for the first time in the month of December and was amazed to hear “Away In A Manger” being played in the huge Spencer’s store – with the words “… little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head” clearly audible. After seeing Jesus totally eradicated from British and American retail stores, I was fascinated to hear the Christmas hymn being played in a country where religion is like dynamite and people die every day because they are unlucky enough to walk down the wrong street while being of a certain religion and not another.

“You are playing Christmas hymns that say Jesus.” I said to one of the attendants.

“Yes, Sir. It is Christmas” was the reply.

Yes, indeed.

Robert

Oil Dropping – But LIAT Keeps High Fuel Surcharges!

With Oil now dropping to around US$40 a barrel WHY have LIAT’s fuel surcharges not been further reduced?

Buy the cheapest currently available return airline seat from Barbados to St. Lucia and you will pay US$200.45.

Of that figure US$125.45 are passenger facility charges, VAT, Airport Departure taxes (US$52.50) Airport Authority or Passenger tax and a massive US$47.50 in fuel surcharges and insurance.

First of all I wonder how consumers would respond, if hotels and other tourism partners starting showing insurance as an additional add-on?

Secondly, exactly what is the current fuel cost of flying a full Dash 8 to St. Lucia from Barbados and back?

Less than US$2,375 or the fuel surcharge applied methinks!

So when exactly is LIAT going to pass on their fuel savings?

They chose to run to the media when a token reduction of US$5 came off previous surcharges. Now that the cost of oil is nearly a quarter of price paid a few weeks ago, how much longer will it take to respond?

Is this another case of price gouging?

And as LIAT is owned by a number of Caribbean Government’s are they complicit in that price gouging?

Many airlines have already substantially reduced or totally eliminated fuel surcharges, so have cruise ship companies, but not LIAT!

So many questions!

Adrian Loveridge