–many received by family members, gov’t to provide housing for others

STEPPING off the Trans Guyana Airways Aircraft late Monday was the best feeling they’ve ever had in weeks.
The occasion was the return of the first batch of 10 Guyanese nationals to their beloved country after suffering heavy losses when Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the British Virgin Islands (BVI), their second home, early last month.

The 10, comprising a mix of both young and old, were brought here as part of the government’s promise to assist those who wanted to come home in order to have a fresh start, or to temporarily relax and recuperate.
On September 6, the BVI was hit by the Category Five hurricane that reportedly destroyed almost 90 per cent of the buildings on the island.
As a result of the catastrophe, many persons, including Guyanese who lived there, were left homeless.

The Guyana Government as such started the process of assisting their fellow Guyanese by bringing them home and sending in food and other items.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who welcomed the evacuees on arrival around 19:30hrs, said they are bringing home Guyanese who signalled their interest in returning, and that so far, many have done so.
“This is our first major flight with persons who are coming back,” said the minister, who pointed out that Trans Guyana Airways will be bringing in more Guyanese from the BVI.
In addition to bringing persons to Guyana, the Trans Guyana aircraft also took approximately 3,300lbs of food and other much-needed items to the BVI for distribution among the residents there.
“We want everyone to know that the government is working with the private sector to do everything to ensure that our citizens are cared for, no matter where they are,” Minister Harmon said.

Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, who was also on hand to welcome the evacuees, told members of the media that as persons come in, immigration officials will enquire about those documentation that they may have lost, such as birth certificates and passports, so that they may help replace them.

PLACED IN SCHOOLS

He also pointed out that the intention is to ensure that the children who return with their parents or guardians are assessed and placed in schools, so that there will be less idle time.
“As persons come in, we will start to do continuous interviews in order to ensure that we have enough information on persons so that we can make an informed decision,” Minister Felix said.
Given that most of the persons who returned on the first flight were children, their families who were there to receive them were excited to know that there are already plans to have them integrated into the school system.

Avril Chan, a resident of Grove, East Bank Demerara, embraced her two granddaughters, both of whom she was seeing in person for the very first time.
“When I hear about the hurricane,” she said, “I was so worried, my blood pressure and so went up. But I was happy to know that my family was safe.”
Chan said she was happy when she saw the girls, aged 14 and eight, step off the plane, and that her first order of business is to ensure that they don’t waste a day while here. She said words cannot express how happy she is that they will be given a chance to go to school.

Similarly, the grandmother of young, Jared Newman travelled all the way from Rosignol,on the West Coast Berbice to collect her grandson, who was one of the 10 persons to arrive here Monday evening. She said her only plan for him is to get him into a school.
Jared said that although he is excited to go to school in his homeland, he will surely miss his friends back home, and his mother who he hopes to see again when she arrives in December.
For those who do not have family members here, the government has made arrangements for them to be temporarily housed at the Hugo Chavez Centre at Onverwagt in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

OVER 100 MORE TO COME

Minister Harmon said many persons have heard about what the government has to offer, so they are interested in coming back. According to him, 43 persons were initially slated to come to Guyana from Sint Maarten, but over the past few days the number has increased to 116.
Sint Maarten, unlike the BVI, was hit by Hurricane Maria that did similar damage to the country and its people.

General Manager of Jags Aviation, Christopher Cheong, told the Guyana Chronicle that they will be leaving for Sint Maarten today with a load of goods.
He said they will be bringing back with them about 15 persons when they return on the following day. According to Cheong, their flight to and from the island is part of a humanitarian effort.

Minister Harmon also indicated that Jags and Trans Guyana will be doing flights throughout the week to ensure that everyone is here by this weekend.
Chairman of the Correia Airport, Michael Correia said he and his colleagues are happy to be playing a part in ensuring that Guyanese return to their country.
The names of the persons who returned on Monday are: Randy Ragnauth, Avril De Santos, Nanshalee Foxe, Brianna Foxe, Nia Asanti Gill, Rolanda Flatts-Gill, Javed Newman, Janice Callwood, Cameron Foxe and Coran Penn.