Speaking at the end of the recent summit of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, was clear.
“We just have to close our eyes for a few seconds and appreciate the impact on the way of life of ordinary citizens and businesses in this region if LIAT were to cease its operations … There are economic consequences. I think the regional private sector needs to join forces with the governments and all of us in the region,” he told journalists.
In a similar vein, his Antiguan counterpart, Gaston Browne, who is now the OECS chair, said that LIAT remained vital to “keeping our people connected,” and that the airline was a critical component in regional integration.
Majority owned by the governments of Barbados, Antigua, St Vincent, and Dominica, LIAT remains on the edge financially, struggling to reconcile its essential role in sub-regional integration with how it should be financed and operated.