CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
ANTIGUA
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.
BARBADOS
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley
announced that her administration
has put in place plans for the country to
start reopening from June 30.
Speaking at a
COVID-19 press conference
recently, Mottley
said the curfew will
be removed completely
as of June 30.
She however stated the country is
not yet ready for mass events and based
on this, the Crop Over Festival will not
be held.
She said other regulated events will
be permitted and the government will
allow promoters to have parties that are
limited to 50 people in one location.
Concerning the tourism industry,
Mottley said Barbados will create a bubble
for fully vaccinated passengers from
Caribbean L 4 ife, JULY 9-15, 2021
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Groundcrew prepare a Liat airlines ATR 42-600 plane on the tarmac at Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados,
March 18, 2019. REUTERS / Phil Noble, fi le
low-risk Caribbean countries and those
with a negative PCR test can immediately
enter from June 30.
As it relates to pleasure craft vessels,
Mottley there are still some protocols
which have to be determined.
She added that her administration
has also set a tentative date of July 16
for the resumption of spectators at open
events.
CARIBBEAN
The economies of member states of
the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union
(ECCU) suffered a significant set back
last year mainly due to the impact of
COVID-19 pandemic, according to the
St. Kitts-based Eastern
Caribbean Central
Bank.
In the latest publication
of its. 2020
Annual Economic and
Financial Review, the ECCU countries,
namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica,
Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis,
Montserrat and Anguilla recorded economic
contraction of 14 percent.
ECCB acting deputy director and
economist at the Research Department,
Beverley Labadie, said the tourism
industry, which is a major money
earner for the countries, registered a
decline of 65.4 percent.
She said that with many individuals
losing part or all of their livelihoods
during the period, governments have
had to provide financial assistance and
that resulted in increased expenditure.
The economist said that over the past
two decades, before 2020, the last time
the region registered a sharp downturn
spike was in 2009, when economic
activity fell by about 6 percent.
DOMINICA
Indian-born Antigua and Barbuda
citizen, Mehul Choksi was denied bail
for a second time when he appeared in a
Roseau court recently
on a charge of illegal
entering the island
last May.
Chief Magistrate
Candia Carette-George
remanded him in custody after he pleaded
not guilty to the charge.
The 62-year-old Choksi, who was
granted Antigua and Barbuda citizenship
in 2017 under the island’s Citizenship
Program, claimed he was kidnapped
in Antigua and brought to Dominica on
May 23, is wanted by Indian authorities
for criminal charges, including corruption
and money laundering.
Indian police want him extradited to
face the charges which he has denied.
It is alleged that Choksi, a diamond
mogul, who was last seen leaving his
home in Antigua in a car, had planned
his own “kidnapping” in a bid to avoid
extradition to India. He will return to
court next week when another application
will be made again for bail by his
attorneys.
GUYANA
The Guyana government recently
announced that it will honor prominent
historian, political activist and academic,
Dr. Walter Rodney,
nearly 41 years after
he was assassinated in
the South American
country.
Attorney General and Minister of
Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, in a statement
to the National Assembly, said
efforts will be taken to change key
details on Rodney’s death certificate
and make his grave site a national
Continued on Page 18
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