PM opts out of regional airline talks

KINGSTOWN—The shareholder governments of regional airline, LIAT, will meet in Barbados today, but a planned meeting in Bridgetown with T&T’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar will not materialise, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has said. He told a news conference his T&T counterpart was unable to attend the meeting because Parliament would be meeting on the same day.
Gonsalves, who serves as chairman of the shareholders, said the meeting with Persad-Bissessar would have dealt with ongoing concerns with the T&T-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL).
“What I have suggested to her is that as chairman of the shareholders I will come down to Trinidad with the chairman of the board of directors, Dr Jean Holder, and chief executive officer, Captain Ian Brunton…and other persons to talk about some issues because we want to see at the political level how we can strengthen the nexus between ourselves and CAL.” Gonsalves has in the past said he wants to engage in discussions, not a fight with T&T, over the fuel subsidy Port-of-Spain provides to CAL.