Two Caribbean Airlines flights which were set to repatriate Guyanese stranded in Barbados and Trinidad on June 11 and New York on June 13 have been cancelled.
John Ramsingh, who was fortunate to return to Guyana on the first repatriated flight last week, noted that the stranded passengers were not given any reason for the cancellation of the flights.
“Our fellow Guyanese are desperate to return home with some barely surviving. They have met the criteria to return even under difficult circumstances but are still left in the wilderness. Our decision makers need to allow our brothers and sisters to come back home,” Ramsingh pleaded in a statement Friday.
The News Room understands that the flights were cancelled due to mechanical issues with the plane.
The passengers were not given information on when the next flight will be but according to information received, CAL is trying to have one of the flights on Monday, June 15.
Guyanese stranded in Trinidad complained that they already paid G$50,000 to do their COVID-19 test as they need a negative result 48-hours before arrival to be granted entry.
With the cancellation of the flight, the passengers will be required to undergo a second COVID-19 test.
Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Egbert Field recently told the News Room that there are 186 Guyanese on the cruise ship off the coast in Barbados, 120 nationals in Trinidad and over 100 in Barbados.
The first batch of 109 stranded Guyanese was repatriated on Saturday on a flight from Miami, USA on an Eastern Airlines flight.
Those persons have since been placed on home quarantine for seven days to ensure they do not develop any symptoms of the COVID-19.
