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Thursday, July 22, 2004
Cash-strapped airline LIAT will receive an injection of $8million from four Caribbean countries so that it can continue to fly.The prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, Barbuda, and St Vincent and the Grenadines made the decision after a meeting in Barbados to discuss the airlines future.The leaders met for over five hours and accepted proposals to put a restructuring process in place intended to make the airline viable by the end of the year. St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, the Caricom leader responsible for air transport, said Barbados, Antigua and St Vincent and the Grenadines will each contribute $2.1 million towards the immediate financing and restructuring package, and in addition, Antigua's leader Baldwin Spencer will honor an outstanding $1.8 million payment owed by the previous Lester Bird government.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago agreed to grant a five year $6.4 million loan to help St Vincent and Antigua finance the airline's bail-out package.
Last year, LIAT received a bailout package worth $9.4 million US dollars from Antigua, Trinidad, Barbados, and St.Vincent. The four leaders will meet again in St Vincent and the Grenadines in October.
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