Give support to carrier

GIVEN the fact that the region’s economies would be negatively affected by the loss of LIAT, one leader of the shareholder governments is calling on more Caribbean countries to support the airline.

Speaking during a press conference following a meeting of the shareholder governments recently at the Hilton Barbados, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda reiterated the call to regional governments to give their support to LIAT.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda.

As it stands, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda are the main shareholders, with Dominica recently coming on board in a bigger way.

“There is clearly room for other governments in the region to see the wisdom and the necessity of supporting this vital link for the people of the region, and every opportunity I get I will continue to make the call to other governments of the region that must accept that without LIAT having regular services up and down the region, all of our respective economies would be effected. I am just urging my other colleagues in the other member states to recognise the importance of this institution,” Spencer stressed.

He further maintained that the true importance of the airline to the Caribbean has never been properly recognised by some countries of the region, leaving it to mainly Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda to keep the airline alive.

“It is important for us to understand as governments of this region that LIAT plays a vital role in the economy of this region and therefore to that extent LIAT deserves to be supported....We are all in this together,” Spencer reiterated. (AN)