Approximately 300 Jamaican ship workers are set to dock in Port Royal in Kingston and disembark tomorrow.
The workers are aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas and the Disney Wonder.
In keeping with the Government’s controlled re-entry programme, all persons will be processed using the established protocols for testing, sensitisation, and quarantine that would have obtained for all previous ship arrivals, including mandatory state quarantine until their test results are available.
Speaking with The Gleaner, a Jamaican woman aboard Rhapsody of the Seas expressed disappointment that the vessel did not dock on Thursday when it arrived in Jamaican waters and accused the Government of delaying the disembarkation exercise.
The woman, who requested anonymity, argued that health and other officials should have been on hand to expedite the process so as to hasten them reuniting with their families.
According to the woman, the ship workers have endured a lot of anxiety.
“We are not being mistreated; it is just that we want to come home now. Personally, I have been away from home for close to a year, and other people have been away for the same time as well.
“We have been in quarantine since March. They say they are very strict with their process. Basically, we just want Government to give us the OK. They gave us the confirmation to dock a few days ago, but when we got here this morning (Thursday), we cannot dock. That is completely unfair. People are flying in and get through easily. I am not sure why we are being treated differently,” the woman said.
“There was never any arrangement to disembark this or any ship today (Thursday),” minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Matthew Samuda, tweeted in response to concerns.
“The arrangement for this ship to be disembarked is for Saturday morning at Port Royal,” he noted, arguing that claims to the contrary are false.
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