A 40-year-old Barbadian businesswoman who travelled to Guyana since January 22, 2020, remains stranded here as Guyana’s airports are closed to curb the spread of the deadly COVID-19 disease.
Subrania Sargeant, who is also a Guyanese citizen by birth, has been trying to get back to her family especially since schools have reopened in Barbados and she is not there to care of her children ages – 7 and 14.
The children are being cared for by their father and as a result, he is unable to work.
Sargeant, during in an interview with the News Room on Thursday, said she travelled to Guyana to conduct business.
“I have been here since January 22, I was here on a one-way ticket; I was here trying to get business done and then go back home to my family, but I have not returned since,” the distraught woman said.
She had planned to return in February but did not complete wrapping up her business arrangements on time when Guyana closed its airports on March 17.
Sargeant is involved in the business of making furniture in Barbados and came to Guyana to expand her business. She has been living in Barbados for the past 15 years.
A chartered flight for Barbados left Guyana in April but Sargeant was unable to go on the flight because the tickets were too expensive.
The Consulate for Barbados in Guyana is Captain Gerry Gouveia. He told the News Room that the cost to charter the plan was US$6,000 and US$1,000 was the cost of the ticket; as such other Barbados nationals could not afford the flight.
There are approximately eight nationals from Barbados who are stranded in Guyana but according to Captain Gouveia, the authorities in Barbados are in contact with them. It is likely that they will only be able to return home when Guyana’s international airports re-open to commercial flight later this year.
In the meantime, Sargeant is staying with relatives at Leonora, West Coast Demerara.
“It is not an easy thing to leave your kids and husband behind; it is very frustrating and how long will you want to stay at relatives for?”
