FIND THE LATEST NEWS UPDATED EVERY DAY AT CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM
LIAT’S
DEBT
CRISIS
Caribbean governments
look to Europe for help
Vol. 30, Issue 17 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN April 26–May 2, 2019
By Bert Wilkinson
Caribbean governments
this week rushed to save the
region’s most important commuter
airline amid threats from
the island which supports and
depends on it the most that the
island hopper is facing definite
closure.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Prime Minister, Ralph
Gonsalves reiterated this week
that LIAT 1974 Ltd. will go
belly up if it does not receive
an immediate cash injection
of nearly $6 million dollars as
most options for raising bridging
finance have run out.
Countries, mostly in the Eastern
Caribbean particularly those
with airports with limited runways
such as Dominica, depend
almost exclusively on small hoppers
to move passengers around
the region or to transit hubs like
Antigua, Barbados and Trinidad
while traveling to Europe, North
or South America as examples.
Despite their dependence on
the 57-year-old airline, Gonsavles
said that governments have
responded poorly to a request to
provide the $6 million needed
to keep the airline afloat even
as the pilots union, which have
for years opposed salary cuts,
recently reneged and agreed to
do so.
The financial impasse has
now led to a mad scramble to
raise capital externally to bail
out LIAT with its brand new
fleet of 10 French-made ATR
planes.
Barbados Prime Minister, Mia
Mottley, one the largest holders
of LIAT shares, said the region
was now forced to turn to the
European Investment Bank
New York State Attorney General, Letitia James lends support to the action taken by the
New York State Offi ce of Court Administration. Associated Press / Richard Drew
Reprieve for Caribbean immigrants
By Nelson A. King
The New York State Office
of Court Administration has
halted the ability of US federal
immigration officials to arrest
Caribbean and other immigrants
in state courthouses
without warrants.
Court officials issued the
directive last Wednesday after
receiving numerous reports
about agents from the US
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) agency
arresting immigrants after
court appearances.
The non-profit organization,
Legal Services NYC,
said that a coalition of more
than 100 organizations across
New York State issued a new
report on April 10 measuring
the harmful impact of
ICE’s increased courthouse
arrests on vulnerable immigrants’
ability to access justice,
including survivors of
domestic and sexual violence,
victims of human trafficking,
single mothers and immigrant
youth.
The report, which surveyed
judges, district attorneys,
public defenders, elected
officials, and legal advocates
from across the state, documents
“irrefutable evidence of
ICE’s devastating impact on
New York State courts, including
a 90 percent drop in calls
made to immigrant hotlines
reporting crimes in certain
locations.”
The report also points to a
Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 32
/CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM