(Jamaica Gleaner) Caribbean students still stuck at The University of the West Indies, Mona, are anxious to get home as the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe.
Two students from St Vincent and the Grenadines, whose identities The Sunday Gleaner is protecting out of a general fear among Vincentians that they could lose scholarships for speaking out, have said that they feel let down by their government in how it is communicating with them and how plans for their return home are being handled.
Now one of the last occupants of his dorm as Jamaican students were given notice to vacate several halls within hours of news that classes would be suspended, Bentley said the uncertainty surrounding transportation arrangements have added to his anxiety.
In a letter earlier this month, St Vincent and the Grenadines Honorary Consul to Jamaica, June Barbour, told the stranded students wanting to return home amid the coronavirus that they would each have to pay more than US$1,330 for a return charter flight, warning that the airfare could increase if there are fewer than 56 students making the journey.
Bentley and other students found the price quoted by the Antiguan-based regional airline, LIAT, of which St Vincent and the Grenadines is a shareholder, to be exorbitant, given the limited resources they had.
