The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) said Friday it is providing loans of US$65 million to four shareholder governments of regional airline LIAT to assist with the purchase of aircraft in the context of a Fleet Modernisation Project.
The loan agreements provide for the loans to the governments of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica to be on-lent to, and repaid by, LIAT over a 13 years, following a two-year grace period.
Co-financing for the project is being provided by shareholder equity contributions and from the sale of LIAT’s existing aircraft.
The loans were approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors during a meeting at its Headquarters in Barbados on Thursday.
The Fleet Modernisation Project involves the replacement of LIAT’s aging fleet through a combination of lease and purchase of aircraft; the transition costs associated with the changeover; the upgrade of maintenance facilities; and other institutional strengthening activities, the CDB said in a release.
“The project provides LIAT with the most cost-effective means of improving the reliability of its service and consequently its contribution to the socio-economic development of the region. It will have significant impact on the operational efficiency and financial performance of the airline. Realisation of these results will require the involvement of all stakeholders,” the CDB said.
The bank further said reliable and efficient air transportation is essential for connectivity, mobility and accessibility within the region, and for some of CDB’s borrowing members, LIAT provides the only air links with the rest of the region.
This project, the release further stated, is consistent with CDB’s strategic objective of supporting regional cooperation and integration and contributes to CDB’s overall mandate of reducing poverty in the region through social and economic development.
You can bet your life this is another loan that SVG has undertaken to guarantee. I doubt we will be alone in joining the guarantee, but CDB would never give [or should never give] that loan to a company that makes silly decisions’, without director and shareholder guarantees.
Peter Binose
Self-appointed keeper of the whistle
Another debt for SVG, everyday all you can hear about is new money we have to pay back. We don’t hear about anything good happening in the economy, only more debt that this man is putting us in. TIME FOR HIM TO GO.
Why are these governments/individuals of the Caribbean not listening to the millions of persons in the region that are always always complaining about that LIAT?. LIAT as it is now, with high prices that are mainly government taxes, is restricting movements of people in this region, weekend flights are now a luxury and the few that HAVE to fly are paying what the 1000’s who are not flying would’ve paid. LIAT has reversed to the old bus system of 40-50yrs ago, they only move when there is enough passengers onboard that might cover fuel cost.
ks74,, and did you know LIAT are subsidised huge sums of money by the countries who hold the shares in them. SVG puts in every year between 15 and $20 million dollars, other countries do similar things. They don’t call it a subsidy, but at the end of the day that’s exactly what it is, a subsidy.
Now if you remember I gave Gonsalves a new label when I gave him another name to add to his list of names, ‘The subsidy Kid’ A few of his other handles that I revealed or introduced are Hurricane Ralph, Red Ralph, Donkey Gonsalves, Gonsalves the Dunce, Come to Papa Man. There are many more.
I am not going to mention his cousin who is also known by an assortment of names, ‘The Million Dollar Man’ ‘The Unemployed Unemployable’ ‘The Unelectable Unelected’ ‘The Philistine’ ‘MRFIXIT’ ‘Gonsalves Yard Boy’ and quite a few other, so we won’ t mention him here now.
Then Gonsalves decides to attack Trinidad and Tobago who give its national airline subsidised fuel. It even gets more silly because Gonsalves announced that Conviasa Air the national airline of Venezuela will be our national flag carrying airline, flying into Argyle. This is an airline banned from Europe because of it safety record, financially subsidised with cash, and uses state subsidised fuel which costs only 20 cents a gallon.
Peter Binose
Self-appointed keeper of the whistle