Local NewsNewsRegional St Vincent hosting ‘prime ministerial meeting’ on LIAT by Barbados Today 09/03/2019 written by Barbados Today Updated by Desmond Brown 09/03/2019 2 min read A+A- Reset Share FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 343 CMC – Heads of government from Barbados and four other Caribbean countries are expected to attend a meeting on the regional airline, LIAT, to be held in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday. A government statement issued in Antigua said that the Cabinet had discussed the upcoming “Prime Ministerial meeting” regarding funding alternatives “to ensure that the regional carrier continues to serve the Caribbean well”. LIAT’s major shareholders are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St Vincent ad the Grenadines and last week, LIAT’s chief executive officer, Julie Reifer-Jones, acknowledged that while the airline is facing severe financial problems, it would continue flying through the region with support from its principal shareholders. LIAT currently operates 491 flights weekly across its network of 15 destinations. Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that the issue facing LIAT had been discussed at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) inter-sessional summit held in St Kitts last month. “The Caribbean Development Bank did a study some time last year in which they concluded that the most expensive option to pursue is to allow LIAT to collapse because we would have to form a new entity. That is just more expensive than having a restructuring of LIAT,” Browne said. You Might Be Interested In Crystal Beckles-Holder, 2nd runner up in regional competition GUYANA: Body of child found after gold mine collapses Barbadians asked to help with return tickets for Haitians According to the statement issued after the Cabinet meeting, “the states which enjoy services from LIAT, but are not owners of LIAT’s shares, are likely to be asked by the four contributing/ownership states to purchase shares in LIAT, or to make a financial contribution, or to enter into a minimum revenue guarantee for LIAT flights which enter into their countries. “The request will go out to Guyana, Trinidad, Grenada, St Lucia and St Kitts/Nevis; their Heads of Government are expected to attend the meeting on Saturday, March 9, 2019,” the statement noted. It said that the meeting in St Vincent “is expected to delve deeper into the circumstances of LIAT’s financial needs” than had been discussed during the CARICOM Inter-sessional summit. The meeting will also be attended by LIAT’s executive managers. Barbados Today Stay informed and engaged with our digital news platform. The leading online multimedia news resource in Barbados for news you can trust. You may also like Upcoming CARICOM heads of government meeting to assess rapidly changing global landscape 08/02/2025 Mathlin-Tulloch: IHB ‘a cornerstone of our island’s tourism industry’ 08/02/2025 Huge interest in Rally Barbados 08/02/2025