Phillips pressures Gov’t to bring Jamaicans home
Published:Monday | April 27, 2020 | 12:25 AM
The Holness administration has been charged to expedite its plans and protocols to help Jamaicans trapped in other countries to come home amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has slowed global travel and closed local ports to inbound passengers.
That was one of the recommendations from leader of the parliamentary Opposition, Dr Peter Phillips, during a national broadcast yesterday evening.
“It is the responsibility of the Government to bring home Jamaican workers from abroad, and this is a matter of urgency. Also, there are students overseas who have reached out to us, such as those in Barbados and Cuba, whose parents cannot afford to fly them home or afford to maintain them where they are,” said Phillips, who is also president of the People’s National Party (PNP).
“Government is in a position to fly students home, and they should,” he said.
RAMP UP TESTING
Phillips also urged the Government to ramp up testing for the new coronavirus – a criticism that has dogged the administration, with 350 positive results.
The National Influenza Centre and the National Public Health Laboratory have so far tested 3,262 samples.
Last week’s commissioning of a COBAS 6800 machine is expected to increase testing capacity, with Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton having an ambitious target of up to 1,000 tests per day.
“Our first priority as leaders must be to protect the people of the country against the spread of the virus. However, we will best protect our people by knowing the extent of the problem, which means far more testing has to be done than is being done now,” Phillips said.
At the same time, Phillips said that economic relief should be provided to those who have been most affected by the fallout, with tens of thousands of jobs already lost. Jamaicans should not have to choose between death by COVID-19 and death by starvation, the PNP leader said.
The PNP president also appealed to Jamaicans to be kinder to each other and not treat suspected COVID-19 patients as outcasts.
“It only makes matters worse to threaten our neighbour with violence if they have the coronavirus. Let us listen to the better angels of our nature and be good neighbours in the best Jamaican tradition,” he said.