Payback can be a pain.

Grenada is having a little trouble with money these days, specifically money it owes to Taiwan. A friend sent me this interesting article Monday detailing the drama. The synopsis is this: Grenada got a lot of foreign aid loans after Hurricane Ivan wiped out half the country. The Caribbean country has slowly been paying people back, except for Taiwan. Somehow, Taiwan’s $28 million helping hand loan got ignored.

Either way, Taiwan is now essentially garnishing the country’s wages. After a successful lawsuit in US Court, the Taiwanese now get all of the landing taxes from airplanes and cruise ships that descend on Grenada. Unfortunately that’s the money that Grenada uses to keep the lights on at the airport. Oooops.

While the government has assured everyone that the airport’s operations will go on, the country is still in a sticky situation. You can read the Transportation Minister’s official press release here. He and other government officials are promising to pull the money from other places to keep the airport open. But in a country that can’t afford to feed its poor, can that money be pulled from other services long enough to conjure up $28 million?

Some have wondered if the whole mess is a result of Grenada’s buddy-buddy relationship with China, specifically those in Taiwan according to this article. Others, simply sigh and look forward to fewer airport staff, longer lines and pulsing headaches as they try to get out of Grenada for the summer break.