ST JOHN’S, Antigua – A former Barbuda Council member has accused government of failing to pay the same attention to air travel between Antigua & Barbuda as it does to regional travel.
George Burton said he is very concerned that central government is giving financial support to regional air carrier LIAT while Barbudans are left out of the loop.
He said he doesn’t understand why two dedicated airplanes to jaunt between the two islands, owned and operated by the council, can’t be made available.
Antigua and Barbuda
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – A month after projecting it would make a “modest” $7 million profit in 2013, LIAT says such an achievement is no longer possible.
The company had hinged its profit making ability on complete re-fleeting that got off to a late start, due to a lack of funds and reconstruction of aircraft records destroyed in a blaze seven months ago, which LIAT failed to quickly complete.
Management now hopes to break-even year-end – which it considers would still be a significant achievement, since the airline has been hemorrhaging millions in recent years.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - Colonialism and its concomitant result, slavery, has been perhaps the worst episode in human history that demonstrates the inhumanity of man to man. Whereas slavery existed for thousands of years on this earth, the European scramble for Africa produced chattel slavery. One of the by-products of this system was the listing of human beings as slaves in the estate balance sheets in plantations of the New World. This placed them in the same category as horses, cattle, dogs and donkeys.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Political Leader of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) Gaston Browne has stoutly rejected the request by Attorney Vere Bird III to contest the next general elections on the ALP ticket. Browne, in a brief conversation with OBSERVER Media, said, “Not on my ticket,” when questioned about Bird’s interest. Bird made his interest known during a branch meeting last week and was awaiting a response from the executive of the party.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Aircraft supplier ATR and LIAT have jointly announced a deal for three planes.
According to the release, the deal is valued at over 100 million US dollars.
LIAT officials say the first of the 48-seater ATR 42-600s is to be delivered in June.
The deal also reportedly includes the option to purchase two 68-seat ATR 72-600.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - Almost all of the countries of this region depend on tourism but the industry does not dominate the economies of all of the Caribbean countries. Jamaica exports bauxite; St Lucia produces bananas and manufactures lights, and Barbados, described as having a well-developed mixed economy also has offshore finance and information services as important foreign exchange earners.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority (ABIA) says negotiations are continuing with investors for the establishment of a US$75 million poultry farm here. A statement posted on the government website said the project, which will focus mainly on the export market, will provide direct employment for approximately 800 people. ABIA chairman Dr. McChesney Emanuel has commented on reports here that the Ciboney Poultry Company (CPC) multi-million dollar project would adversely affect the local poultry industry.
The Third General Assembly Meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was held on 13-14 January 2013 in Abu Dhabi, and the CARICOM Secretariat represented by its Programme Manager, Energy, participated as an Observer. Four CARICOM Member States were also represented, viz, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Guyana, and St. Vincent and Grenadines.
DALLAS, Texas, CMC – The receiver for jailed Texas financier Allen Stanford’s assets has sought approval from a US federal judge for interim payment to swindled investors. In a filing in a federal district court, Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver, asked Judge David Godbey for his permission to pay more than 17,000 investors an initial distribution of US$55 million. If approved, Janvey said investors swindled by Stanford may receive an interim distribution payment worth a penny on the dollar of their losses.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Two international airlines have committed scheduled flights to Antigua, increasing total airlift to the country, Tourism Minister John Maginley reported.
German airline Condor and Italian airline Blue Panorama both have scheduled flights to Antigua for the current winter season.
Maginley, speaking during the Budget debate in Parliament yesterday, was responding to charges by the opposition that arrivals to Antigua have been falling.