Unconscionable! PNP says government abandoned ship workers

The People's National Party's (PNP) spokesman on National Security, Fitz Jackson, has called the government's denial of entry to 45 Jamaican workers aboard the Marella Discovery 2 cruise ship "unconscionable", pointing out that the Jamaicans were refused entry, even though they pleaded for an exemption when the ship docked in Kingston to refuel last Thursday. 

They were denied entry on the basis of the restricts on incoming passenger traffic at all ports of entry to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Jamaica. 

Jackson said based on information available to the Opposition, "a request was made to have the Jamaicans disembark, but the government failed to respond in time, and the vessel left a day later after receiving no word from the government."

The ship is now en route to Portugal, where the Jamaicans are not guaranteed any favourable treatment, the opposition spokesman said in a release today, as the Portugal government has no obligation. 

"The denial of entry to 45 Jamaicans into the island with no alternative provisions for their well-being in a time of grave uncertainty was inhumane and draconian," the statement from Jackson read. 

It further quoted him: "Irrespective of the powers granted under the Disaster Emergency Act, every Jamaican has the right of entry into the island and this right should not be arbitrarily denied to anyone without an appropriate plan of action for their protection.”

He said the government failed to protect its citizens abroad the ship and should tell the nation what measures have been implemented to ensure their safety. 

Jackson said the government also needs to establish appropriate guidelines that will inform how Jamaican nationals travelling outside the country should be treated at this time. He further called for the government to clearly instruct the country's overseas missions, with the help of members of the Jamaican Diaspora, to establish safe houses for Jamaicans stranded overseas, while the borders to the country remain closed. Jackson said this process should be sufficiently publicised so that their families can be reassured of their safety. 

"This latest action of the government adds to a troubling trend where Jamaican citizens are abandoned on foreign soil without assistance, as was the experience with our fishermen, who were treated as slaves and left to the whim and fancy of others; our students in China, who made their appeal on social media for assistance in returning home; and our hotel workers, who arrived in-transit into Barbados but were abandoned at the Grantly Adams International Airport," the release paraphrased Jackson. 

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