By Carlena Knight
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has shared his view on the ongoing talks with Barbados over LIAT, and has declared that Antigua and Barbuda will not settle at the US$44 million proposal made by the Bajan government.
It was reported by Barbados Today last week, that among the sticking points to Barbados selling its 49.4 percent majority stake in LIAT was Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s insistence that Antigua and Barbuda take up Barbados’ almost $100 million loan commitments.
But according to PM Browne, if agreed upon, that would be a “steal for Barbados.”
“I understand mathematics, and I understand percentages, and I also understand value for money, so if we were to settle at US$44 million, that would be a steal for Barbados; and we are not in the process of giving away money. We are in the process of creating value and to get fair value for the people of Antigua and Barbuda, so as far as I am concerned and I have said this to the Prime Minister of Barbados, because she knows my thinking
[that]
discussions cannot start at US$44 million. She knows my position and has since come down.”
Browne, while speaking on his radio show, was not shy in airing his disappointment with the government’s negotiating team in even considering the said proposal.
