The Barbados Government appeared today set to walk away from its role as lead shareholder in the cash-strapped airline, LIAT, even as the Prime Minister remains tight-lipped on negotiations over its future.
Briefly breaking silence on a steady stream of reports from Antigua that her administration was negotiating the sale of its shares to the government in St John’s, where the airline is based, the Prime Minister would only say that the airline is still willing to support the struggling carrier, but not in its current format.
In a cryptic response to journalists’ questions, the Prime Minister said: “Barbados is committed to LIAT and regional air travel [but] we may not be committed to LIAT 1974 and that’s the fundamental difference.
“There’s more than one way to do that which we have to do, but at the appropriate time with respect to the details of any discussions, I’m not going to disrespect the process and the people with whom we do business. There’s a right way to do things and I will follow that right way.”
Mottley’s comments today are the first indication that the Barbados Government may have been wavering for weeks over its decades-long policy of unswerving commitment to the airline’s viability, which had been backed by repeated calls by successive administrations to ffellow Eastern Caribbean governments to either subsidise the carrier or join as shareholders.
Even as Mottley refused to comment on speculation about the future of Barbados’ ownership, declaring she has no intention of negotiating in public, her Antiguan counterpart, Gaston Browne, has claimed that Barbados has agreed to sell all but ten per cent of its shares in LIAT. This followed a formal bid for shares made a month ago, on which the Mottley administration neither confirmed nor denied.
Browne reported on Sunday that Antigua and Barbuda had received communication
from Mottley that Barbados was willing to shrink its majority 49 per cent stake to a mere ten per cent.
If the sale goes through, it would result in Antigua and Barbuda becoming the majority shareholder in LIAT with 73 per cent of shares.
Today, Mottley gave her assurance that Barbados was still willing to support LIAT, but hinted that it would not continue to do so under its current ownership arrangements.
When questioned by journalists as to if Barbados had indeed sold its shares to Antigua and Barbuda, the Prime Minister said she would not speak on the issue publicly at this time.
She had also given a similar response when she spoke at the Barbados Employers’ Confederation annual general meeting last week.
Mottley said when the time was right she would use the floor of Parliament to speak to the people of Barbados.
“I do not shout across the Caribbean Sea and if that is an article of faith for me last week it is still an article of faith for me today.
“I give you the assurance and the people of Barbados that when the Cabinet has reviewed and is in a position to be able to do so, that I will speak in the place to which we have become accustomed to speaking, which is the Parliament of Barbados, that I will speak to the people of Barbados, but I am not in the habit of sharing correspondence that I have written to anyone, far less colleagues of heads, in the press before they have seen it and I don’t think there is anything which would cause me to alter those basic precepts of behaviour that I consider dear.”
Up until this point, there has been no publicly expressed indication that Barbados was rethinking its ownership of the 63-year-old airline, co-owned with Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and The Grenadines and Dominica.
In mid-March, the chairman of shareholders, Vincentian leader Dr Ralph Gonsalves, made an urgent appeal for a cash injection of $10 million (US$5 million) to keep the airline in the skies, while promoting a minimum revenue guarantee, beyond which LIAT would drop flights on unprofitable routes.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell then indicated it would make a $2 million (US$1 million) cash contribution and would pay additional funds based on load factors into St George’s.
Tourism Minister Kerrie Symmonds said that as a major shareholder in LIAT, Barbados remained interested in keeping it flying but it “won’t be the lone ATM machine” for the airline.
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What is the big deal about majority shareholder or minority shareholder in an entity that the shares probably like Seafoods limited in worth a penny
We always letting emotion cloud our judgment and we tend to politicize everything
The issue is how best the struggling mismanaged airline can be kept in the air for the benefit of the people of the Caribbean and again I ask where are the the ideas from these highly paid certified brains in the Caribbean posturing as intellectual gurus writing a lot of speculative garbage in the media and pronouncing on every political topic under the sun but cannot put their heads together and formulate ideas to ensure the survival of a worthwhile Caribbean entity
Then at the end of the day they will be rewarded with accolades like Sir this and Sir that and Dame this and Dame that for doing nothing significant
We could as well close down the University
We will see another big mistake with this issue.
Keep stacking them up BLP.
LIAT needs rebranding, a serious overhaul, a new vision, business plan you name it. Ppl avoid using LIAT because it built up a reputation for itself that seems irrevocable and prices are unreasonable. Who would pump money into a venture that always need bailing out and why the other counties that benefit from its operation do not assist ? And we talk about caricom, CSME and Caribbean integration.
This is very good news. Barbados should have dropped Liat a long time ago.
The PM is doing the right thing by distancing Barbados from the loss making machine.
My only problem with it is she should wash her hands of it completely and not hold on to 10% or any percent of shares. There is no point to that.
The problem with LIAT is the high government taxes in all the islands. The governments are killing LIAT.
….and can you as a JOHNNY state what will be that mistake ,because YOU are not following your colleague in YARD FOWLISM in saying precisely what that mistake would be.
Looks as though WHATEVER PM MIA does…releasing ALL the shares…releasing some….dropping Liat altogether or insisting on the VIRGIN ATLANTICS’ position would constitute that mistake.
No people can see why you changed your name from ARCHY PERCH to JOHNNY CROW.
Good move!!
Antigua will now do as they like
waste of our money, always do the best for our country and people.
NOW people can see why you had to change your name from ARCHY PERCH to a JOHNNY CROW when YOU were ALL OVER BT and ST.ANDREW saying that GOOD NIGHT IRENE would have beaten GEORGE PAYNE to a pulp and that there was going to be a LANDSLIDE victory for your CROOKED DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTY.
Looks as though you DID see that LANDSLIDE coming…in an UPSIDE DOWN POSITION.
Bye bye dead weight
Way to go…stop feeding dead horse …use money help the ppl that need it the most …special needs and disable in Barbados….
@PATRICK LEROY: Correct. I would wager a bet that Antigua will make it work.
LIAT need some competition. Too relax and go along as a happy go lucky air line service just sucking the life blood out of the Taxpayers.
We keep talking about Caribbean Integration. But the more I analyse the situation, you will see that certain counterparts seems set to hoodwink LIAT. When you look at Antigua, its PM is of the opinion that everything should be based there. With over 400 of its staff and its Headquarters based in that island, the focus is basically on job protection. Maybe, if Antigua attains all the shares it would be prudent to rename it “Leeward Island Antigua Transport”. In another case of selfish integration, Antigua is looking at an additional UWI in the region, notwithstanding that a UWI Facility is already in nearby Jamaica.
One thing for sure when Antigua gets the major control of LIAT, its employees in Antigua can look forward to a game of musical chairs every five years, from the clandestine rebranded LPAT and PPAT.
I dont care who have all the shares.
Virgin, B.O.A.C., Pan Am, Redjet, Carib West Airways, Antigua, as long as Barbados is no longer tied up in that mess known as LIAT.
Folks, all the Barbados base LIAT jobs GONE.
TENNYSON DRAKES
You making sound as if there are 1000 Barbados base jobs with Liat.
Let Antigua PM pay the person that got fired the 1.55 million US$, seeing that he claim he do have of these funds floating about over there.
I keep asking how much LIAT jobs are in Barbados, No one seems to list the number(s) as yet.