Even while repatriation efforts are being finalised for victims of Hurricane Dorian, Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix said the Government will be working to develop a draft National Policy for assisting Guyanese in Caribbean territories who are affected by natural disasters.
A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency said that Felix made the announcement on Tuesday after chairing a meeting held with aircraft owners and operations and various Government entities, to streamline efforts to facilitate the return of Guyanese from the hurricane-ravaged island chain, The Bahamas.
“This meeting has guided us to a path of seeking further guidance on best practices in charting the response that we need, which at the end of the day seeks to ensure that the interest of Guyanese is attended to in circumstances of disasters and any misfortune which may befall them outside of Guyana. At the end of this exercise, we should develop a policy to respond to the needs of Guyanese outside of Guyana,” the statement said.
Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Karen Cummings; Captain Gerry Gouveia of Roraima Air Services; Brian Tiwari of JAGS Aviation and representatives of Trans Guyana Airways, A. Mazaharally and Sons Limited; Air Services Limited, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Civil Defence Commission and the Ministry of Citizenship attended the meeting.
In relation to the situation in The Bahamas, Felix said that there is an option available to address the repatriation of the 23 Guyanese, who have expressed their desire to return. He pointed out that this number can change as there are another 108 persons, who have yet to indicate what their desire is.
“So, work goes on and the Guyanese public will be kept informed as decisions are taken,” the Minister said.
He said too that the meeting discussed an approach to Caribbean Airlines for humanitarian aid to bring home the affected Guyanese in The Bahamas.
“This was done because it was observed that the range of aircraft in Guyana would not take them to The Bahamas without them having to stop for refuelling on a couple of occasions. Then, there is another option, where Government can be invited to subsidize the cost of the aircraft bringing returning Guyanese… and the third, is the employment of the [GDF] skyvan to assist in the return of Guyanese from The Bahamas,” Felix said.
