Imagine being an ambassador for your country but you are left stranded in a foreign island for months without basic necessities.
This is the harsh reality that four of Guyana’s best boxers Keevin Allicock, Colin Lewis, Desmond Amsterdam and Dennis Thomas are facing at the moment in Cuba.
The quartet, who departed January 4 for a training stint, is literally suffering and is pleading to be returned to their homeland.
Their pleas have fallen on deaf ears so far. While plane loads of Exxon Mobil workers disembark at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, the four boxers and many other Guyanese who are stranded overseas, are not allowed in despite several appeals.
The government has cited the COVID-19 precautions for its position on not allowing stranded Guyanese to return. Yet, Newsroom Guyana, reported recently that Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Egbert Field, had confirmed that special approval had been given for “6-8 flights of oil workers.”
There seems to be a double standard here. Are foreign oil workers more important than the stranded sports ambassadors abroad?
President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle wrote a letter to Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force, Moses Nagamootoo since Monday seeking his intervention for the safe return of the four boxers. Ninvalle said yesterday he is yet to receive a response.
“We would have hoped by this time we would have received a response from the task force whether it is no, yes or maybe,” said Ninvalle, who added. “There is not a lot more we can tell our boxers. We have asked them to hold on and be patient but frustration has stepped into the camp and we can’t say where we will go from here. I hope that in the near future that we will have a response which is favourable and which can give a glimmer of hope to these young ambassadors.”
Yesterday, this newspaper tried to make contact with CEO of the task force, Joe Harmon, but efforts proved futile.
Ninvalle said Team Leader, Lewis sent him the following text messages.
“Good morning sir, we can’t sleep at this point, we all are up and we very, very sad and restless we want to come home sir. The food we eat today come up back for us tonight ,we send it down back cause same thing happen again yesterday.
Honestly, we can’t take this no more sir ,we have been keeping quiet for too long and it’s not well here sir. We represented Guyana a lot of times with good hearts and spirit, they need to let us home sir.”
Ninvalle noted that he was saddened to hear of the deterioration of the situation and reiterated that the boxers should be allowed to return home expeditiously.
