Bridgetown.
The Government of Grenada will not be giving LIAT any more money until it gets its act together and reduces wastage.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell made it clear yesterday during at a Press briefing at Highgate Gardens, St Michael.
Mitchell, who was recently elected for a fourth term as leader of the “Spice Isle”, said that LIAT continued to be an inefficient operation.
“I will not continue to invest in an operation if it continued to be inefficient and not responsible,” he said.
The Prime Minister said, he planned to meet with the chairman of LIAT Jean Holder to discuss how Grenada could help the struggling airline become more responsible and provide increased services
He acknowledge that while regional transport was a major issue for Grenada, LIAT could not continue to operate as it has and expect his government’s support.
Stating that he had been called anti-LIAT for his strong position on forcing the regional carrier to be accountable while profitable, Mitchell said far from being against the airline, he simply believed regional transportation was necessary and should be competitive.
“I have been attacked and criticised before by some uninformed sources in some governments and by the media for being anti-LIAT. Now how could I be anti-LIAT. I am anti any business that does not want to get its act together, reduce wastage and provide increase efficiency in services. I want all operations, all governments to operate in that way, to give increased services and stop wastage.
“LIAT as we know, historically has been my view, an inefficient operation, even when it had monopoly services and the planes were always packed with people… Yet when LIAT presented books, it was always losing money. That made no sense,” he argued.
Part of the problem, he noted was the heavy staff complement which the airline had, adding that this was something that could not continue.
Stating that he was an outspoken critic of this, he said the Grenada government still invested, gave LIAT concessions and opportunities. But he maintained that if his government was going to invest the country’s limited resources, he expected better from the airline.
“I am meeting the chairman of LIAT, Holder and some members …, and I will be talking to him about how Grenada can help LIAT to become more responsible in the context I just mentioned and at the same time provide increase services. As it stands, I cannot tell you I feel very happy about what is happening there,” he said.
He recalled three weeks before his country’s February 19 election needing to travel to Trinidad on urgent business and was being told he would have to go to Barbados, St. Vincent and then Tobago to get to Trinidad.
"I told them leave me in Grenada, I am not going. If that happen to me and I had urgent business and I refused to go, how are we expecting you the citizen, who wants to go on a vacation, to travel with them, no way", he said.
The Prime Minister noted that all roads did not lead to LIAT.
"Caribbean Airlines is there and I will not fail in my responsibility to look at this, there are businesses out there. If an airline sees an opportunity for portitability and expanding its operation, it will come", Mitchell said.
He stated that the collapse of low cost carrier Red Jet last year was a major blow to the region
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