Amidst continued calls by Guyanese stranded abroad for the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to grant permission for them to return home, head of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Lt. Col. (ret’d) Egbert Field has said that planning is ongoing to address the requests.
Field, who is a member of the NCTF, on Thursday told Stabroek News that there is a multi-agency approach to the requests and that protocols are being worked out before the Guyanese can be given permission to return home.
Guyana’s airports remain largely closed to incoming commercial passenger flights until June 3rd as part of measures that have been instituted to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.
The closure was instituted since March 19. However, exceptions have been made for oil and gas sector workers, albeit under strict guidelines, including mandatory quarantine.
Field told this newspaper that there is no timeline for when they will be able to grant permission for the special flights that would be needed to facilitate those stranded abroad but he emphasised that the necessary protocols to guide how returning nationals would be followed upon their return are being developed.
The NCTF said recently that it has received numerous requests from persons who want to return home and that it has been discussed but no final decision has been taken. Since this announcement, there has been no other official word from the NCTF if any decision has been made.
Groups of Guyanese marooned in North America and other countries have been requesting permission to return home.
Citizens who have been stranded for the past nine weeks have also raised objections over the NCTF allowing ExxonMobil’s workers to enter the country while ignoring their request to return home.
“For the past nine weeks I have been calling the embassy trying to find out if we can return home but there has been no positive answer. The embassy has informed me that many persons have been calling in too and asking when they can return home. People are running out of places to stay and it is becoming burdensome and frustrating,” a Guyanese woman in Canada, who has been pleading with the government to allow Guyanese home, told this newspaper.
A group of Royal Caribbean cruise ship workers, who are stranded on several cruise ships, have also publicised their calls to the NCTF to grant permission for a chartered flight home.
The group, numbering approximately 70 Guyanese, has been stranded on board different cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean for the past nine weeks.
None of the crew members have been in contact with any passengers since the cruise line halted its operations.
This newspaper understands that the workers have made multiple enquiries at different government agencies, including the NCTF, but to date they have only been told that the airports are closed and as a result they will not be able to return home.
Anthony Argyle, one of the stranded cruise ship workers recently related that it is disappointing to see the Guyanese government not giving their concerns any attention. “Other governments are opening their borders but our government doesn’t seem to care for us. Why is it our government is so selfish and heartless?” he questioned.
Stabroek News has also highlighted the plight of four of Guyana’s boxers, Keevin Allicock, Colin Lewis, Desmond Amsterdam and Dennis Thomas, who are stuck in Cuba.
President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle wrote a letter to Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force, Moses Nagamootoo since last Monday seeking his intervention for the safe return of the four boxers. Ninvalle said up to Friday he had 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.”
