As Hur­ri­cane Melis­sa takes aim at Ja­maica, the Min­istry of For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs says it has been work­ing with the Min­istry of Ter­tiary Ed­u­ca­tion and Skills Train­ing and Caribbean Air­lines to co­or­di­nate ef­forts to as­sist na­tion­als, par­tic­u­lar­ly stu­dents, seek­ing to re­turn home. It al­so says the arrange­ment en­sures that those wish­ing to leave are giv­en pri­or­i­ty on the na­tion­al car­ri­er.

The state­ment came amid con­cerns raised by some par­ents and calls by the Op­po­si­tion Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) for Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar to take im­me­di­ate ac­tion to as­sist Trinidad and To­ba­go stu­dents in Ja­maica as Hur­ri­cane Melis­sa ap­proach­es.

On Sat­ur­day, the PNM said stu­dents were fear­ful and un­cer­tain about their safe­ty, and it called on the Gov­ern­ment to en­sure con­tin­u­ous con­tact with uni­ver­si­ty ad­min­is­tra­tions and stu­dent rep­re­sen­ta­tives. The Op­po­si­tion al­so crit­i­cised the Gov­ern­ment’s re­sponse and said the wel­fare of na­tion­als abroad must be treat­ed as a na­tion­al pri­or­i­ty.