Hundreds of people arriving at the Piarco International Airport on Old Year’s Night were forced to ring in the New Year, 2016, in Immigration, as there was a reported skeleton staff.
Some arriving passengers were so frustrated that they began chanting “Let us out, let us out,” while others were shouting, “Where is Immigration?”
Security guards were not on the ground among the arriving passengers, but were allegedly seen standing on an upper floor looking down, according to one passenger.
T&T Guardian was told that the situation at Immigration had a ripple effect on domestic flights causing flights to and from Tobago to be delayed for hours.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian, another passenger, who wished anonymity, said that his flight from Miami arrived at about 8 pm and already there were hundreds of people in the Immigration lines waiting on officers to get processed so that they could enter Trinidad.
“At one time there were no officers, then one came, then about one hour after another came and by about 11 pm a third officer came but the lines were so long that still the wait continued to be long and frustrating,” the passenger, a returning T&T citizen, said.
“It was like a nightmare because everyone just wanted to get to their respective homes to be with their families and loved ones for the ushering of the New Year. It was utterly a disaster and very stressful because, of course, we all would have been travelling for more than five hours, some overnight,” he added.
The passenger said that around 9 pm there were about ten flights on the ground.
“This was utter chaos. We waited three hours and a little over to be cleared. I was glad to finally come out but there were hundreds still left behind at that hour, so yes, for sure, they would have certainly rang in the New Year in there,” he added.
Nearing midnight, some passengers including visitors, in their frustration took out their cell phones and began taking photos (despite the fact that it is prohibited to do so) in a bid to prove and/or substantiate their dreadful experience.
Another passenger, who would only identify himself as Bill, told the T&T Guardian that he was a visitor to the island and added that given his first-time experience he may never return to T&T around this time of year.
“It just shows that this country’s workers are not serious about their duties and that for them to stay away or not arrive for work on time shows total disrespect to tourists and people coming home for the holidays,” an irate Bill said.
Efforts to reach Acting Chief Immigration Officer, Christine Ghandi-Andrews, for comment yesterday proved futile.
Minister of National Security, Edmund Dillon, also could not be reached for comment.