Trinis in Jamaica flee Ivan

At 11.06 pm on Thursday night, a direct emergency flight from Jamaica landed at Piarco Airport carrying over 100 Trinidad and Tobago students fleeing Hurricane Ivan, which was set to strike that island last night. The Boeing 737 was organised by the Ministry of Education to airlift TT nationals studying at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). Other Eastern Caribbean nationals were also on the flight. A group of about 30 parents and family members had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Flight BW 3419, which had left Norman Manley Airport in Kingston at 8.15 pm. At 11.06 pm and ahead of time, the electronic notice-board listing “Arrivals” said the flight had just arrived. According to BWIA, the 154-seater flight came in full. Students were welcomed home by their families in a number of different ways. There were many hugs and kisses. Other greetings were more subdued. Considering that it had been a matter of life and death, most of the welcomes surprisingly lacked any outbursts of uncontrollable emotion. No one had cried, yet.

Almost all students we spoke to said they were glad to be back, although they had a heavy heart for those they had left behind, especially their Jamaica campus colleagues. Out of Newsday’s dozen interviewees, only one girl seemed to be on the verge of breaking down in tears — tears of relief. She answered our questions falteringly, and even declined to give her name, but students were generally willing to talk and to share their experiences. “It’s very good to be home safe and sound,” declared Vijay Seecharan a second year geology student from South. “For such a short arrangement, I think everything worked out well.” His first year geology colleague, Sindy Ramjattan, agreed. She recalled the exodus: “At the beginning it was a bit shaky, but it turned out quite well.” The duo had heard of some Trini students staying behind. Seecharan said: “Everybody in Jamaica right now is traumatised. The last hurricane that hit them was Gilbert, which at a Category Three devastated the island, and right now Ivan is at Category Five.”

The duo said the plane experienced bad turbulence due to the storm system. How did they feel when the plane was taking off from Jamaica? Ramjattan said: “We were so happy. It was such a traumatic day. You were waiting and you don’t know what is going on. There was a rush to reach the plane. It’s a relief to be here.” Seecharan chimed in that while they were glad to be out, they felt a bit guilty at leaving their Jamaican classmates behind. “We felt sad, kind of like we betrayed them.” Ramjattan added: “We left people there that we knew. It was kind of hard to do.” As she was met by her mother and sisters, Ariman Victoria de Leon was upbeat. “I feel relieved but kind of sad because I’m leaving my friends back there in Jamaica. Yes I’m relieved to reach home and be safe, but what are they going to do? I’m happy to be home.” She was satisfied with the organisation of the exodus and said the flight was “fairly good.” She promised to pray for the Jamaicans.

Was the mood on take-off scared or elated? The first year geology student said: “It was the normal, excited to leave.” She had not worried that the hurricane might pose a risk to the plane. “If it was a risk they would not have said we could leave. They weighed the odds, and we are here. Thank God for that. Let’s pray for Jamaica.” Diana Marchand is a third year Geology student from South. She said: “It’s great to be back home, but my boyfriend is Jamaican and I’m kind of worried about him, but I am happy to be home, really happy.” She recalled the flight. “Everybody was thanking the Prime Minister (Patrick Manning). It was total ecstasy, everybody coming back home. Everybody was just happy. In the initial part the flight was very bumpy, but we made it.” Central Trinidad geology student, Rudo Udika, said: “I am glad to be home. I’m concerned about my friends I left there, but I’m glad to be home. I really hope everybody is okay.

“We didn’t know if this was real — we had heard rumours, and were very glad when they finalised it. We were concerned about the people we left there but I think everybody’s happy to be home and safe.” She said most Jamaican students left Mona campus to go home to their families. “When we left Jamaica there wasn’t anything scary as yet; It was just the drive to the airport where you see the waves getting high.” Denis Noel, studying actuarial science, said: “The flight was a bit rough. It was very nice of them to be able to bring us back. It was good that they also brought down students from the small islands. They said we could keep them with us.” Nicholai Attai, studying mass communications, was met by his large family. He said his flight was good, even quipping: “The food was good; the service was good.” He noted that there had been some uncertainty about the flight, saying: “We were waiting for the okay.” He had found out about the flight at 2 pm, had to reach the airport for 4 pm, for a scheduled departure time of 6 pm. 

All students thought flying them out was the right thing to do. By the end of the evening, there had been many grateful reunions, although a few families had not yet found their students, and some arrivees had not been yet met by their families. Most students had not heard of allegations that the flight had barred off-campus students such as Jan Martin, an actuarial science student, from South Trinidad. BWIA manager of corporate communications, Dione Ligoure, was brimming with pride at the success of the airlift. She said: “BWIA delivered, once again. It is critical for us to remember why a regional carrier is important and why BWIA, as the national carrier, is important to Trinidad and Tobago and to the region as a whole. “I’d like to give tremendous kudos to our airport teams, as well as the cabin and cockpit crew that operated this service at extremely short notice. The important thing is that we delivered. It is important people remember this and that the public knows this. We deliver.”

Looting continues
500 TT soldiers for Grenada

By FRANCIS JOSEPH in Grenada

AT LEAST 500 Trinidad and Tobago soldiers will be deployed on the streets of Grenada to assist the battered island restore order following the destruction of Hurricane Ivan. This was revealed yesterday by top military sources in St George’s after another day of widespread looting and sporadic gunfire and tear gas in the city. So far, 110 TT soldiers are on the island to assist Grenada get back on its feet. There are also soldiers from Antigua, Barbados and St Kitts. The Caribbean troops are here to assist the 850-strong Royal Grenada Police Force and the local Defence Force contingent comprising just 80 members. According to a member of the local contingent, the Defence Force “is in denial that Caribbean troops are here to assist the Grenadian authorities.” He said looting was widespread throughout the city and the soldiers arrested some looters on Thursday night, but were forced to release them yesterday because there is no place to keep prisoners in the wake of the destruction of Police Headquarters on Tuesday.

The local military officer fears the situation could get worse and there could be civil unrest if something is not done as soon as possible. “No one is communicating to the people, and there has been no address to the people because the communication system in the country is down.” One TT officer told Newsday that he was threatened with violence on Thursday night at a city gas station. “They have a feeling that we have come to invade their country. One person said, ‘Why don’t you go back to Trinidad, we don’t want you here.” The officer said he had to use good public relations to convince the Grenada people that the TT soldiers were on the island to restore law and order. He said the people of Grenada were aware that TT soldiers were on the island although communication is bad. He said while there were just 110 soldiers on the island, at least 500 will be eventually deployed to assist the local and regional security services.

The military officer said food has started arriving in Grenada, with the first set coming from Trinidad. There is food at Point Salines International Airport and the port in St George’s but no one knows where and how to distribute it. He said that a United States aircraft brought in supplies to Grenada yesterday. During a patrol with TT soldiers yesterday, it was evident that the situation has reached crisis stage. There were long lines at gas stations and supermarkets, but there was widespread frustration on the faces of the people. There was looting, but the local police officers have not been seen because most of them are with their families after the destruction of their homes. Yesterday, police had to use tear gas to disperse a group of looters at the shopping plaza at Grand Anse. The police detained the looters, hit them some blows, and allowed them to leave. One hour later, there was a mad chase along Grand Anse Main Road when police arrested one of the escapees from the Richmond Hill Prison on Tuesday.