Prime Minister Gaston Browne will meet with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley this weekend to secure LIAT 1974 shareholder support for severance payments to former workers.
Antigua and Barbuda, along with Dominica, already back the plan. Browne proposes releasing a $12.1 million escrow by lifting the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) lien on LIAT’s planes, facilitating these payments.
He also seeks to reduce the lien’s value to free up $4 million for immediate compensation.
Browne is optimistic that Dominica’s Roosevelt Skerrit and St. Vincent’s Dr. Ralph Gonsalves will support the proposal. The Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union has been silent on this new proposal, and Browne urges their active support.
The CDB stated that LIAT’s shareholders, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, and St. Vincent, must decide on using the aircraft sale proceeds. Browne had earlier informed the CDB of Antigua and Barbuda’s purchase of LIAT’s planes for $12.1 million to settle re-fleeting loans. The lien has hindered using these funds for severance.
The CDB clarified that decisions on the sale proceeds rest with the shareholders, not the bank, and that they are not involved in LIAT 2020’s operations.
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