The Gov­ern­ment says it close­ly mon­i­tor­ing Trop­i­cal Storm Melis­sa as it moves through the Caribbean Sea, reaf­firm­ing that the safe­ty of na­tion­als re­mains its top pri­or­i­ty.

In a state­ment is­sued yes­ter­day, the Min­istry of For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs said Trinidad and To­ba­go na­tion­als, in­clud­ing stu­dents seek­ing to leave Ja­maica, will be giv­en pri­or­i­ty on Caribbean Air­lines fol­low­ing dis­cus­sions be­tween that min­istry, the Min­istry of Ter­tiary Ed­u­ca­tion and Skills Train­ing, and the air­line.

It said for stu­dents un­able to trav­el, the High Com­mis­sion in Kingston has been di­rect­ed to main­tain emer­gency sup­plies and is co­or­di­nat­ing with The Uni­ver­si­ty of the West In­dies, Mona, and Ja­maican au­thor­i­ties to safe­guard their wel­fare.