The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has expressed hopes that the government of Dominica will write off the debts of regional carrier LIAT. The airline was facing liquidation and owed regional owners more than $300 million. With the renewed efforts to revive and reorganize the airline, Browne led the rescuscitation efforts and asked owner governments to write off the debts of the airline.
The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda said he has received an undertaking from the PM of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, to have LIAT’s debts forgiven, but he is yet to get any solid commitment from PM Roosevelt Skerrit in that regard.
According to PM Browne, Gonsalves has committed to forgive the $14 million owed by LIAT, and he is confident that Skerrit will do the same in due time. He made it clear that owner governments have no real choice but to write off LIAT’s debts since they have no hopes of recovering the debts once LIAT has declared insolvency.
“We have not heard formally from Dr Gonsalves as yet but he has given an undertaking to write off the liability of 14 million and we are appreciative that he is standing in solidarity with us,” Browne said. “I am pretty sure Prime Minister Skerrit will be writing of his government arrears. We are now waiting for Barbados and other countries in the region.”
The government of Dominica is yet to respond to the demand, and the government of Barbados among others is yet to react to the development.
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