One member of a group of T&T citizens left stranded in Suriname has written to National Security Minister Stuart Young seeking an exemption to this country’s ongoing travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The request was made on behalf of Ashmeed Syne, of Waterloo Road, Carapichaima, by his attorney Umesh Maharaj in a letter sent to Young on Saturday.
The letter came days after Young responded to a pre-action protocol letter, in which Maharaj, on behalf of another stranded citizen, Lawerence Balkaran, threatened to sue him (Young) over his apparent refusal to consider his discretion to entertain exemptions to the travel ban.
At the time, Young suggested that he would consider exemption applications but noted that the exercise of his discretion would be done with the advice of public health professionals, who recommended the temporary ban.
In his 10-page letter, Maharaj sought to give an explanation for his client’s presence in Suriname at the time when the ban took effect on March 22.
According to Maharaj, Syne, a bolting technician contracted with Surinamese firm Exsol Industrial NV flew to Paramaribo, Suriname, on February 28 to work on an oil refinery being refurbished by that country’s State-owned oil company Staatsolie.
Syne reportedly received US$40 per day to cover his living expenses, which is expected to be stopped soon.
“Presently, he has almost depleted the limit on his credit card and has only $100 left on his limit,” Maharaj said, as he claimed that his client could not access his T&T bank accounts.
In addition to his personal issues after Suriname closed its airport and instituted a curfew, Maharaj claimed that the travel ban has also affected his family, for which he is the sole breadwinner. He said that Syne only left financial arrangements in place to cover his family until his expected return on March 22.
“The emotional distress and personal agony that my client is forced to endure increase with each passing moment that he is continued to be denied the opportunity to enter the jurisdiction with the permission of the minister,” Maharaj said.
Maharaj claimed that whilst in Suriname, his client closely followed the advisories issued by this country’s Ministry on Health on the best practices for avoiding contracting the virus.
Maharaj stated that his client was willing to take a COVID-19 test and would abide by any order issued by local public health care professionals if he is eventually allowed entry.
“My client maintains that he will subject himself to any mandatory quarantine order made under the Quarantine Act, for the purposes of safeguarding himself and any other national of T&T within the jurisdiction,” Maharaj said.
In the letter, Maharaj noted that Young granted permission to open T&T’s boarders to allow citizens from the United States, United Kingdom, and even Suriname to be expatriated and that similar considerations should be made for him and 31 others stranded in Suriname.
“It is a most unreasonable and irrational exercise of discretion for an independent sovereign State to adopt an approach purporting to be in the public interest to allow citizens to fend for themselves in foreign jurisdictions where there is no real risk of those citizens posing a threat to the public interest and where there are provisions in law to ensure that the public interest can be protected by the appropriate measures being taken,” Maharaj said.
Syne, who is also being represented by Gerald Ramdeen, did not receive a response up to late yesterday.
According to reports, Syne, Balkaran and the other stranded nationals were expected to return on a flight scheduled to take place before the ban took effect, however, it was cancelled due to the unavailability of a flight crew.