Valley defends Govt’s role in LIAT loan

Even though one could argue that you don’t need LIAT, and that BWIA could service the region, it is in Trinidad and Tobago’s interest to help debt-ridden LIAT, Trade Minister Ken Valley stated yesterday. Speaking in the House of Representatives on the Variation of Appropriation Bill, Valley defended Government’s decision to make $150 million available to LIAT via loans to shareholder governments (through the Oil Facility). He said the money put in the Oil Facility ($375 million) by Trinidad and Tobago now belonged to Caricom countries and therefore they were free to decide how to use it.

“And if the heads (of Government) agree that it is to be used for that purpose (for LIAT), who am I to say they ought not  do it? I cannot pretend to know better than they how to use what is in effect their money, ” the Trade Minister said. Valley said while one could argue that you didn’t need LIAT, in the real world there were “political constraints.” “If LIAT in Antigua is providing jobs, the Antiguan government will not easily agree to put it to bed to allow  BWIA to get the jobs,” he said. He added, “We have to work within the constraints until such time as we could remove or relax the constraints.”

Valley stressed that Government at all times resisted all efforts to give LIAT money directly. “Even if we had to hide between the fact that the Government owns only one percent of the shareholding of LIAT,” he said. But, he noted, at the same time Government was conscious of the fact that for the non-oil sector of the economy, Caricom was our major market. Government also had to be aware of the fact that LIAT was critical infrastructure for the Eastern Caribbean. Valley stated that Government made the loans available against the background that previous loans had been repaid by all Caricom countries, except Guyana because the UNC government decided to “forgive and forget” US$600 million in debt.

Valley said the UNC left BWIA and LIAT alone. “They had a minister of finance who ran the ministry from his home.” He added that under the UNC, Trinidad and Tobago dropped from Category 1 to Category II status, leaving it up to the PNM to once again return the country to  Category I. Earlier, UNC MP Winston Dookeran criticised Government for going “blindly” to support LIAT. He also objected to the role and the confidence with which St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonzales could announce that he was sure that Caricom countries would get the money from the Trinidad and Tobago government in ten days.

He said Gonzales seemed to have more say on these matters than the Opposition Members of Parliament. Dookeran called for transparency and wanted Government to outline its air transport policy. During Dookeran’s presentation, there was much squabbling between PNM and UNC members over whether the St Augustine MP was irrelevant or not.  House Speaker Barendra Sinanan had to rise and appeal for order several times as tempers flared.