=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2008/05/05/financial/= f195233D43.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, May 5, 2008 (AP) Jamaica to divest national airline (05-05) 19:52 PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Jamaica signed an agreement with a U.S. federal trade agency Monday to g= et its debt-ridden national airline off its books by 2009. The Caribbean island will collect a US$820,000 (euro530,401) grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to help reduce its investment in state-owned Air Jamaica — which Prime Minister Bruce Golding has called as a significant drag on the national budget. Jamaican Sen. Don Wehby, who holds a senior position in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service, said the U.S. grant would allow Jamaica to shed all holdings in the airline by March 2009. "We believe that it will be in the best interest of Air Jamaica and for Jamaica for this divestment process to go through as quickly as possible," Wehby said at the Monday signing ceremony in the capital, Kingston. Air Jamaica has cost the country millions of dollars (euros) since 2004, when the government took over and began restructuring the airline, Golding has said. The struggling carrier has eliminated routes and laid off workers, attempting to turn a profit. Calls seeking comment from Air Jamaica's headquarters in Kingston went unanswered on Monday. Eliminating all state holdings in the airline will ultimately help it survive, said Minister of Finance and Public Service Audley Shaw. "We are looking forward on a very positive basis to this privatization process, which will ultimately be to the benefit of Air Jamaica," Shaw said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2008 AP <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".