Liat Update

By Azad Ali
Source : Caribbean Life
Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne has hinted at the possibility of a new company to administer the affairs of the cash-strapped regional airline LIAT even as he confirmed that talks were ongoing with two potential investors for the airline.

LIAT’s former shareholders were the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In July last year, the Antigua and Barbuda government secured an order from the High Court in Antigua for administration for LIAT, naming Cleveland Seaforth as the administrator for the company.

Earlier this year, Seaforth, in a letter to regional leaders, said that EC$79 million in severance is owed to the 154 workers already dismissed by the airline.

Seaforth said that apart from any possible severance, which may come from the LIAT estate, the Antigua and Barbuda government had indicated it is prepared to offer the staff up to a maximum of 50 percent of their severance either by cash, land or government bonds or a combination of the three.

Browne speaking on his radio program recently, said that the offer to LIAT workers in Antigua is still on the table even as it awaits an official response from the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union (ABWU).

He said he is hopeful that the two viable investors who the administrator is having discussions with “will come in and bring some capital to the table.”

In May, the ABWU said the union is still awaiting a response from a May 19 letter sent to the court-appointed administrator on the payment to the former workers.

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