LETTER: Why Weren’t Our Students Evacuated to Antigua Before the Storm?

1. All you complain about every fucking thing. Me just tyad of reading things on anr that upp and ablp neagra fuss bout straight. All yuh fucking annoying. Everything must be criticized?

   Step the fuck back and stop complain.

2. Concerned Citizen, well highlighted. I thoroughly enjoy reading your letters to the Editor. Much kudos to you 👏🏾

   The fact is if Gaston Browne had a family member caught up in Hurricane Melissa he would have pulled out all the stops to get them home before it hit Jamaica 🇯🇲

   I read recently that the former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s son got lost somewhere in a desert, and in two, two’s Thatcher sent out a search team and rescue team to locate her son.

   Browne fools a lot ah people, but not the discerning and the critical thinkers …

3. @Concerned Citizen. Stop being a little drama queen. Many people are staying at that and many other hotels and are being taken care of. Since the storm went further to the west, Kingston has reported no major issues and electricity is on to most areas of the city. Our students are fine and are having all kinds of fun as teenagers tend to do.

4. The why is not important? They did not. What are we going to do now? They are there we are here, and the storm is raging. We cannot talk about what should have, it, done happened

5. Don’t they have parents and next to kin? How many of the parents actually approached to government for support? What is the back story ? Was it even safe to fly at that time ? How many of the students were actually willing to return since it was voluntary ? Peeping on other
   islands when Antigua was the first known to take measures to protect their own ? Give
   thanks that where they are is considered safe…. how many would be willing to put up a penny to bring back the students they are so concerned about after the fact ? Let me guess that’s government problem…. are you truly concerned or you just needed a moment? Take a moment to give thanks and pray for their safety rather than use this moment to soap box 📦

6. Why didn’t you evacuate your family member before the storm?🙄🙄 Who is really responsible?🤔

7. The why is not important? They did not. What are we going to do now? They are there we are here, and the storm is raging. We cannot talk about what should have, it, done happened

8. Our PM was too busy partying in Dominica.

9. Bwoi I can see how dumb some people are, and it always seems to be the supporters of this Government. No rational thinking whatsoever.

   People on both sides have students in Jamaica you idiots, so this is not about party affiliation, this is about the kind of uncaring and quite frankly “inept” person we have leading us. That’s the bigger picture here, along with the fact that other islands did the prudent thing, so why don’t we have a leader that actually listens.
   I called for him to remove the students since Friday, 4 days before the storm even hit land in Jamaica.

   But you know what, you cannot convince a dummy no matter which party they voted for, but it seems ABLP have a lot of them..it’s frightening.

10. Is it now you all realized that you all had been out smart by Gaston and his insensitivity like he did to the barbudans, holding them at gun point during the aftermath of hurricane Irma to take their lands to sell to rich white folks?
    I have been saying to some people , why would you seek shelter where a bomb is about to fall? Is it because that student that spoke to the media has parent with political connections why a blind eye was turn as student leader of the group?
    The Bahamas and st Kitts and other countries flew home their people. And that is natural because the magnitude of the storm mean life will not go back to normal to resume class at UWI just now.
    The lack of explanation is that we don’t know the financial state of the country under Gaston financial stewardship.
    Everything is just not been manage properly when it concerns finances, but this prime minister will make irresponsible spending on unnecessary things then seek loans or tax the citizens mercilessly to make up for his mistake and to bolster his ministry as able to function like a real finance ministry.
    It is clearly a gang of looters who got elected to the lottery ticket of the Antigua and Barbuda treasury.

11. @Eldread and Islanman26, you are both correct about the other mentioned Caribbean countries evacuating their concerned citizens from Jamaica.

    It seems that our government’s misuse of taxpayers money (on the Alpha Nero and ferrying Africans into Antigua, and a plethora other other funds wasted) meant that an evacuation plan before Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica was never really going to materialise.

    Both of you hit ABLP’S wayward monetary nail and Browne’s fiscal incompetence firmly on the head 👏🏾

12. I said on this media that with the slowness of this Hurricane moving towards Jamaica that we had sufficient time to evacuate our students. Folks we have Students in Cuba as well who’s families had no opportunity to bring them home, so please remember them as well.
    Leadership is making decisive decision for the betterment of your citizens.
    If I was in the shoes of the PM , I would not have gone to Dominica to party at this crucial juncture. He left Antigua in the heart of a scandal. Leaving the same people in place , like saying I am going to turn my back, so you better clean up your mess. Remember how he chastised the opposition member and many of us joined in – Hon. Kelvin Shugy Simon for going to carnival, despite he is not a member of the ruling administration and explained how he had planned his vacation long before the date was set for that particular parliamentary session.
    Then the students in Jamaica and Cuba that needed his full attention. St.Kitts/Nevis and Grenada we were told evacuated their children. Again we could or should have acted united in evacuating our students right across the region. So to each his own, hence every PM acted unilaterally. Just as Grenada’s and Trinidad PM’s had to make decisions on their own with the political/ war tensions between the USA and Venezuela.
    This might be the most telling part of my statement/ questioning – What airline did our Hon. Prime Minister used to go to Dominica Creole festival ? Did he go on a LIAT plane privately and if so what was size of Plane in terms of capacity. Our partnership or part ownership with LIAT should have made things much easier to evacuate our students from Jamaica and Cuba.
    So it is my view that our Prime Minister should have been Laser Focused on putting an independent inquiry in place, in getting to the bottom of this Vechicle scandal. In putting a forensics accounting investigation team in place, to go into ministry by ministry and with the view to stamp out corruption. I will also add to strengthen the public accounts committee and be transparent about the annual Audits. Without this tomorrow will be just like yesterday- the word on the street is that those that are involved in corruption are telling their clients to relax a bit and allow things to cool off. Those at the public works , customs and treasury I am talking about Hon.Prime Minister. Immediately put systems in place to prevent further corruption. To work with the university of the West Indies and to develop programs to get rid of this epidemic evil, called corruption that is plaguing our nation.
    With proper systems in place, the political arena will not be so attractive anymore. Since one of the main aim is not of service to nation but self-enrichment.

13. Our students are fine and will be fine.

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