Devon Dick

TheSunday Gleaner'sBusiness section of February 4 had a story about Air Jamaica's new plans, which included gaining routes alternative to Miami from South America and increasing cargo in order to return to profitability by 2009.

President of Air Jamaica, Mike Conway, stated that they are hoping to gain new business by year-end from air traffic emanating from South American countries such as Venezuela and Brazil. This is a good idea.

However, this idea needed to extend to routes from the African continent.

Air Jamaica has lost billions on the traditional routes and there needs to be thinking outside the box. The slave-trade mentality comprises a triangle, involving Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, which benefits Europe mainly and needs European support.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in British territories and still there is no direct air travel from Jamaica to Africa and, therefore, no direct air cargo/trading. This is very sad.

Route travels

Each year billions of dollars go to the coffers of the United States and Britain because Caribbean people and Africans have to route their travels through these countries instead of having direct flights.

The ships which transported slaves travelled directly from Africa to the Caribbean. It could take just about five hours from Jamaica to some parts of Africa if there were direct flights.

Instead, it can take 18 hours. What a waste of time and money.

A couple of years ago, I was a guest of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) and so too was the Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Delano Franklyn. And the cry from ordinary Zimbabweans was how could they get to sell their goods in Jamaica. And they did have some good products.

Wealth

However, years later it does not appear that things have changed and the wealth that could be created for Caribbean people and Africans by a direct flight is yet to materialise.

There was talk some years ago of a direct flight between Barbados and South Africa, but what of Jamaica? Air Jamaica has started to move away from the slave-trade mentality and it is time that they look at that route. Sadly, the leadership within African countries does not seemed overly interested in the direct links between the Africans and people of African origins.

When I addressed the ZIBF conference I was taken aback that the Zimbabwean intelligentsia of principals and vice chancellors of universities were lukewarm to my suggestion of strengthening links between their universities and those within the Caribbean. However, the ordinary Zimbabweans were very interested in the link.

Air Jamaica should lead in this significant anniversary with the idea of having direct routes. The symbolic activities are good, but let us do something to link the territories without enriching the Europeans and wasting time and money.

It would be good in this bicentennial celebration year that there is a greater exchange of peoples between Africa and the Caribbean. In this regard the Baptist World Alliance must be commended for scheduling its July meeting this year in Ghana and also planning to host a worship service to commemorate the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. This meeting will also facilitate the visits of impor-tant sites relating to the slave trade and help many to understand what the enslaved experienced.

This year, at least, Air Jamaica should plan some charter flights to Africa.

Jamaicans should, this year, plan to spend vacations in Africa and we should have special packages for Africans to visit Jamaica. Planned 'pilgrimages' and educational tours to sites in Africa, with direct flights from the Caribbean, would, on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade, be evidence that we are emancipating ourselves from a slave-trade mentality.