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Geovannie Brackett, President - COLA
"Is that they have made it very clear to the management that one of the biggest problem that they have is a shortage of professional qualified controllers and what has frustrated the members of the control, the controllers, is that some of them have not been able to take their vacation adequately. Some of them have had to work for more than 12 hours, and in some extreme cases, 18 hours and yet have to return back in a morning shift after leaving work at 2 in the morning - that is pretty much frustrating. I can only as president of COLA relay after I have done my research, to relay what has been told to me and I could only understand their plight."

"There are other issues of salaries, of increments, that they have not received as yet and there are other issues of which I find this one to be very serious, is that there is a faulty radar system in the radar room, where the tracks sometimes disappear - that's very serious."

Lindsey Garbutt, Director of Civil Aviation
"The controllers stated categorically that they had nothing to do with the press release sent out by COLA and that that press release was erroneous and not factual. Secondly, they said very clearly that the decision not to come to work on Saturday was based on genuinely being sick. The coincident of all of them being sick at the same time and that it had nothing to do with anything that the department and the ministry is or is not doing."

Reporter
"Sir, however, at least you alluded to one of the things that has been pointed out in the release, which is the borrowing of headsets from Costa Rica. From the release, the situation with the number of workers, you have admitted that. May this be a case where you are simply trying to just set aside all the differences that exists and that the ATCs may in fact be disgruntled and lack motivation, because they don't feel that all their issues have been sufficiently dealt with. It's too much of a coincident for the entire ATCs, all of them to be sick on the busiest day, on a day when the Prime Minister was scheduled to come in."

Lindsey Garbutt, Director of Civil Aviation
"I don't know if that's a question or a comment. It sounds like a comment to me. I am not sure that I can add anything to what I have previously said."

And while Director Lindsey Garbutt rejected the COLA characterizations, he also acknowledged that many of them were legitimate - including equipment and staff shortages. Here's what he said about bringing the number of staff up from eighteen to 30 and the allegations implied therein- principally that the new staffers are not picking up the job as they should - and that this may be because they are political hires:..

Lindsey Garbutt, Director of Civil Aviation
"We were given 6 new controllers last year. We've been promise 6 new controller in the new fiscal year. Later this week or early next week, we are going through the proper lines of making sure we invite people to apply for those jobs, trying to bring our staff up to a compliment of 30. I think the very notion that there people were hired based on any political affiliation is ludicrous, absurd and totally false. These people went through a complete, comprehensive process. They were hired through the public service, they were not hired not either by the ministry or the department. I could hire 10 people with a doctorate degree tomorrow and it would still take them a year or more to become qualified air traffic controllers."

The staff and the management of the department meet again on Thursday.