Caribbean Airlines ends 15-year partnership with Blue Waters after owners' detention

Trinidad and Tobago: The state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) has made the decision to discontinue using Blue Waters’ bottled water on its flights following the detention of the principal owners of the company, who are currently imprisoned under the Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs).

The airlines had been using the company’s bottled water on its flight for over 15 years. The Caribbean Airlines sources stated that the move was significant for the company as it has caused a bit of chaos for the staff. The blue waters’ bottled water is served on all of the airline’s flights.

“Crews had to remove the labels of the water before they served. And some crews had to pour water into cups for customers,” a source mentioned.

As per the official statements, the decision to switch water brands came from the board, chaired by Reyna Kowlessar. However, the company has not yet disclosed what exactly triggered the immediate change.

CAL has purchased large quantities of water from Blue Waters and as per the payment documents revealed to the media, the company easily spends close to half a million dollars a year on water.

CAL has now been serving Dasani, a local bottled water by Caribbean Bottlers Trinidad and Tobago ltd, subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company, on its flights.

Blue Waters has been operational for the last 27 years and was established by Dominic Hadeed, who now remains in prison without any charges yet being laid along with his wife, Genevieve along with their relative, Star Sabga, following an investigation into an alleged conspiracy to murder Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bessessar and other senior members of the cabinet.

The company is the dominant bottled water brand in T&T. It is exported to several islands across the Caribbean, including Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada and Guyana.

The couple has filed for judicial review and a constitutional motion on their detention with their lawyers claiming their clients are being targeted by the Government, based on their ethnicity and an ongoing legal dispute over the termination of leases for State land.

“There is no and can be no evidence of any plot by the claimants to murder any person because there was no such plot. There is no basis for concluding that there was any evidence of any threat, real or perceived, against any public official,” their lawyers claimed.

According to official documents, the couple claimed that the move by the current Persad-Bissessar-led Government to extend the State of Emergency last month was unconstitutional, as it sought to target members of the Syrian/Lebanese community, a minority ethnic group and Dominic Hadeed personally.

They also claimed that the Attorney General John Jeremie was referring directly to Dominic Hadeed during his Parliamentary contribution on the extension of the SoE.