The five years I spent as a member of the first republican parliament of TT was one of my greatest learning experiences.

Sitting in the House of Representatives with the likes of Dr Eric Williams, Errol Mahabir, Basdeo Panday, George Chambers, Patrick Manning, Raffique Shah, Kamaluddin Mohammed and ANR Robinson, I learnt how to navigate executive turbulence. More importantly, I realised that politics was not my forte and when my term was up, I returned to continue my aviation career.

Another great learning experience was the 31 years I spent at BWIA, with the last five years being the director of flight safety.

It prepared me to successfully compete for the position of the first director general of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the newly established TT Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA).

As the DGCA, I was intimately involved in the drafting of the Civil Aviation Act. Due to the very highly safety-sensitive and international nature of aviation, the drafters took a cue from Section 17 of the TT Postal Corporation Act. The drafters included section 3(1) which states that the minister shall be responsible for the general administration of the act and the development of policy on air navigation for TT. Section 3(2) of the act states that in furtherance of subsection (1), the minister may give to the board any general or special policy directions in relation to this act, with which the board shall comply. Perhaps the most cogent part of section 3 is sub-clause (3) which states that directions given in furtherance of this section, shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this act and shall be in writing signed by the minister.

This effectively means, as an example, that a minister cannot direct the board to grant a TT pilot licence to an individual who does not satisfy the requirements of Civil Aviation (No 1): General application and personnel licencing regulations for the grant of such licence.

The duties of the DGCA are circumscribed in the Civil Aviation Act, the Civil Aviation Regulations and the TTCAA tender rules, the latter two being approved by negative resolution of parliament.

I served under five administrations with nine different line ministers. I had a very cordial relationship with almost all of the line ministers, particularly Colm Imbert and Jack Warner.

As the CEO of a high-profile state agency, more so, one whose functions were highly regulatory, relationships sometimes became turbulent.

I walked a very tightrope to navigate a balance between respect for higher authority and strict compliance with the multiplicity of laws and regulations that govern the operations of the TTCAA.

There were times when I had to steadfastly hold my ground to avoid being coerced into misconducting myself in public office.

With the proclamation of the act, the TTCAA assumed responsibility for the regulation of all civil aviation operations in TT.

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Section 25 of the act empowered the board to employ such staff as is require