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LIAT employees, families continue to get financial assistance

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Parliament has given the green light for Government to take more than $11 million from the Consolidated Fund to continue assisting Barbadian ex-employees of beleaguered regional airline LIAT as well as families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A sum of $1.74 million will go towards ensuring that the airline workers, who were sent home last year without severance, can continue to receive financial assistance, while $10 million will cover the shortfall under Government’s Adopt-Our-Families Programme so that those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can continue to get assistance.

The monies are part of a $34.8 million supplementary to the 2021-2022 Estimates of Expenditure approved by the House of Assembly on Tuesday morning, when a resolution introduced by Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn was passed.

More than 100 severed LIAT employees received initial payments in May, after a promise from Prime Minister Mia Mottley to give them $2 000 monthly for a 12-month period, pending the resolution of the matter of severance owed by the Antigua-based carrier.

However, Straughn said additional monies were required for the former workers to continue receiving the monthly amounts.

“This money is for the remainder of the financial year,” he explained.

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“We felt it was important that some relief was given to these workers in this way, which would help to ease some of the anxiety and burden as it relates to what effectively has been the cessation of the business model of LIAT.”

The airline, which was hit hard when the COVID-19 pandemic halted air travel, is under court-sanctioned administration as it seeks to avoid liquidation by undergoing restructuring.

As for other Barbadians who were impacted by COVID-19 and have received assistance under Government’s Adopt-our-Families Programme, Straughn said an additional $10 million was needed to supplement the $10 million approved at the start of the financial year.

“This is to ensure that the programme can continue and that the persons who . . . benefit from this particular initiative can continue to do so. Barbadians still continue to donate to that programme and I urge them to continue to do so if they can,” he said.

Straughn added that the support was particularly important given the lockdown earlier this year, the fallout from the ashfall from the La Soufriere volcano in April, and the damage from Hurricane Elsa which impacted Barbados last Friday.

“It is critical that these families that were already in some level of financial stress, that we at least continue to be able to support them in this particular way until such time as the economy can recover and persons can return to work in full and be able to support themselves and their families once again,” the minister said.

The Adopt-our-Families Programme was started in April 2020, a month after the start of a lockdown that was triggered by Barbados reporting its first COVID-19 cases.

In April this year, Government reported that almost 5,000 households were benefiting from the programme. — Barbados TODAY

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]