Prime Minister Gaston Browne
By Ken Richards
BASSETERRE, St Kitts (WINN) — There appears to be a split developing between Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne and some of his Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) colleagues.
Browne disagrees with Vincentian prime minister Ralph Gonsalves’ assessment that LIAT’s closure is imminent because the destinations the airline serves have not heeded LIAT shareholder governments’ appeal for financial help for the cash-strapped airline.
However, it’s another OECS leader who Browne is most annoyed with, although he did not mention him by name.
That leader is apparently Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, who says, if LIAT shuts down, it can be easily replaced.
Some 700 of LIAT’s employees are based in Antigua, and a LIAT shutdown could mean many of these employees losing their jobs.
Browne has warned that those showing no empathy for the LIAT situation should reflect on the possibility of the OECS breaking up.
The OECS Secretariat is based in Saint Lucia.
“In my mind, LIAT makes a far greater contribution to the OECS people and the Caribbean people than the OECS and I heard a particular prime minister say that as far as he’s concerned LIAT can…
