Trinidad and Tobago nationals studying in Jamaica are calling on their government to urgently provide assistance, saying they remain stranded without support while other Caribbean countries have already begun evacuating students ahead of Hurricane Melissa’s impact.
In a statement issued Saturday by the Trinidad & Tobago Student Association at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus, students said that about 300 Trinidadians are still in Jamaica “without intervention,” despite public reports claiming help has already been provided.
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“It is misleading and concerning for the public to be informed that Trinidad and Tobago students in Jamaica have been fully assisted when this has not been our lived experience,” the group said.
The students pointed out that governments in Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, and St. Kitts and Nevis have already moved to evacuate their nationals studying in Jamaica, arranging flights and emergency coordination. Trinidad and Tobago students, they said, have only received “general advisories” or been instructed to make personal travel plans on flights that have since become unavailable.
“Given the significant Trinbagonian student population at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, it is therefore disheartening that the guidance we have received thus far has been limited to general advisories, or suggestions to make personal travel arrangements on flights that have since become unavailable,” the statement said.
Many have been forced to fund their own return arrangements, which the group said presents “severe financial challenges.”
They urged the government to step in with “prompt, meaningful action” to ensure the safe evacuation of its citizens. The students added that they are hopeful accurate reporting of the situation will lead to urgent support “with the compassion it deserves.”
All airports in Jamaica will be closed by Sunday ahead of the hurricane’s landfall.
