HOMEWARD BOUND...for Trinis stranded in Suriname

SOME 42 Trinidadians stuck in Suriname since government closed TT's borders on March 22, to prevent importation of the coronavirus, are set to return home on a chartered flight on Friday. Arrangements have been made between Surinam Airways (SLM) and Rishi Ramkissoon of Cunupia, to bring the nationals home.

The B737-700 aircraft which has a capacity for 80 passengers is being chartered at a cost of US$25,000. Flight PY729 is expected to depart Paramaribo at 10 am on Friday and arrive at Piarco International Airport a half an hour later.

Deadline for the payment has been stipulated for the charterer (Ramkissoon) to pay SML the agreed price not less than one day prior to the commencement of the agreed schedule.

However, the oil and gas workers who found themselves unemployed when their jobs suddenly folded due to the pandemic spread in the region, are not jumping for joy as yet. “We are not having any premature celebrations before things change,” one of the workers said in a What’sApp message to his spouse. “We are remaining calm.”

Another worker who requested anonymity said while he is relieved, there is still a bit of disappointment. "Yes, there is a flight, but the fact is that is is not our own airline coming for us, that we had to look for flights here in Suriname." He said the first option was costing US$850 per person, but thankfully, SLM decided to do a charter for two thirds of that price.

He said at this time payment for tickets is a bit of an issue since the banking system is not fully functional. Two small independent contractors, Rajindranath Mungalsingh and Damian Ramesar, both said they were struggling to raise the forex. They said their men have valid return tickets but those will only be honoured when regular operations resume.

“They haven’t gotten on a flight yet. Their employers, I am one of them, are scrambling to make payments for the chartered aircraft scheduled to leave Friday morning or else we still have penalties to pay,” Mungalsingh said in a What’sApp exchange with Newsday on Tuesday.

Ramesar was also not very optimistic. He expressed disappointment with National Security Minister Stuart Young who previously resisted reopening the borders to let the nationals return. This only changed with the intervention of lawyers Umesh Maharaj and Gerald Ramdeen, acting on behalf of some of the stranded men.

“I am struggling to make the charter flight money to bring them home. We are not in league with countries like Canada whose priority is the safety and well-being of their citizens no matter where they are in the world,” Ramesar said. “We will always be third world because people are just votes to successive governments and tax statistics. I am very, very disappointed in this government.”

“When I have their tickets confirmed I will be in a better frame of mind,” Ramesar said. He had stated in a previous interview with Newsday that Caribbean Airlines consented to have a "mercy flight" to repatriate the citizens, but despite their pleas to Young, the minister flatly denied permission to reopen the borders.

It was only on Monday that Young, speaking at the Ministry of Health’s virtual media briefing on covid19, said he would agree to lift the travel ban and allow the stranded workers back in, on condition that they make their own travel plans and foot the bill.

Ramesar whose two teams of workers were set in a gold mine and a refinery in Suriname, respectively, said none of them have shown any sign of infection, but they are willing to be tested and go into quarantine once they return home.

Mungalsingh said he is hoping he will not have to bear the quarantine cost after housing employees for the past six weeks in Suriname. “I am hoping the quarantine is not at employers or employee’s cost. That will sink small businesses such as us. We are already in the red, having to house and feed employees for six weeks in a foreign land.”

Another contractor who wished to remain anonymous also shared Mungalsingh's sentiments. He said many of the contractors are literally just starting up and were subcontracted by some of the bigger companies. The return of the Suriname Trinis follows that of 33 nationals repatriated recently from Barbados. Other pockets of Trinis especially on cruise ships have been begging the government to reopen the borders to allow them to return home.