‘Nobody cares about us’

A TT national stranded aboard a Royal Caribbean International vessel has joined a fellow national on Norwegian Cruise Line in suggesting that the government has neglected workers at sea and responds only to legal approaches.

The woman, who is a crew member on a ship anchored in the Bahamas, commented after an article in Sunday’s Newsday, which reported that Minister of National Security Stuart Young had made good on his promise to allow dozens of oil and gas workers stranded in Suriname to return home.

Several of the crew members who reached out to Newsday have been at sea since January when their contracts began. The government closed TT’s borders on March 22 to help curb the spread of the covid19 pandemic locally, and recently extended the closure at least to May 15.

The responding crew member was interviewed by Newsday earlier and asked not to be identified by name in either story. As noted in the Sunday report, Young wrote to attorneys for some of the men, asking for travel details and confirmation of how many need his permission to return, before giving final approval.

“It looks like we need to get attorney representatives to get your attention,” said the crew member. “Tell me, why is it okay to open borders for the Trinis who were in Barbados, and now the 40 in Suriname? Tell me why, Mr Young and Mr Rowley,” she pleaded, saying she is concerned that the stranded ships’ crew have been effectively stripped of their rights as citizens.

“Why are you treating crew members at sea as ‘less-than’? Are we dogs? Two hundred and fifty of us and nowhere to put us, even in quarantine? “No problem,” she added. “We (have) already (been) quarantined 21 days to a month at sea. I repeat, at sea, not on land.”

While she is willing to be quarantined in order to return home, she suggested it was not necessary.”If you are allow us to dock in Port of Spain, I thank you so very much for this. This way, we can stay safe and free from the disease.

“Feel free to take us all in and re-test us. And providing we have all our medical documents, which we will, we are pleading to allow us to self-quarantine at home.”

She said she does not want to stay in dirty facilities that may also house patients who have tested positive for the virus. “We had enough of quarantine just looking at the deep blue sea. Let us quarantine at home and stop treating us like dogs. “Nobody cares about seafarers, and we are the safest and healthiest people right now. Stop being heartless.”

Royal Caribbean International has said it is willing to sail crew from Caribbean islands to their respective ports, starting from May 10 on the vessel Grandeur of The Seas. “I just hope when we reach TT, you let us in,” the crew member said.