The future of the regional transportation efforts and the role of LIAT are
unavoidable items that will come before the CARICOM Heads of Government
summit to be held in Trinidad and Tobago next week.
That is the assessment of Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne
who said the LIAT, and air transportation issues are “inescapable” subjects that
will go before the regional leaders.
“I know that there are many countries within the regional integration movement
who see this issue as insular. However, I am of the view that LIAT should be
respected as a CARICOM institution, and that there should be a regional effort
centred on restoring it in the interest of Caribbean peoples and ensuring that there
is greater connectivity to guarantee that people within the Caribbean can move, and
move readily,” he emphasized.
PM Browne added that his view is that there cannot be a successful integration
movement if the people cannot move.
“I am hoping that we can go past the insularity and the national priorities in which,
I imagine there are some regional competing forces that would wish to see the
demise of LIAT and to recognize the importance of such an institution to
complement the efforts of Caribbean Airways (CAL) and that ultimately some
form of publicly funded transportation will be critical to achieving sustainable
transportation in the region,” he declared.
He said the ‘flawed notion’ that the region must rely exclusively on private sector
assets is ‘not a sustainable solution.’ “Antigua and Barbuda believes that
ultimately a re-organised, re-capitalised new LIAT, leaving all the legacy issues
behind, that will operate professionally, that would operate on the proper basis,
will be the answer to the region’s air transportation woes.”
