The ferry – St Patrick’s week
It is referred to on Social Media as the ‘ferry fiasco’.
Early on Friday morning, passengers gathered at Little Bay port ready to travel to Antigua by ferry. It was a normal morning. They would soon learn that the ferry will not sail and according to the information at the time, the captain had said he would not sail until he had an agreement/contract.
The ferry contract had expired the previous day and there wasn’t a new one in place.
That was the story and by late evening there was much revelation as to how it happened.
But TMR has learnt much that need to be investigated including that there was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the Premier/government into having to rush the signing of/the authorization of a contract under the pressure as had just developed.
The Premier never ready to pass blame, silent on the facts leading to that confusion, informed that he was dealing with the problem since the evening before. He said the captain would not return his calls, admitting then that the Ministry of Communications and Works was supposed to have dealt with the matter for some time. The Premier said they were working on making temporary arrangements and that first priority was getting passengers across who were making connections in Antigua.
We have been unable to confirm by press time but informed by sources that arrangements must have been made as a ferry did sail later that day. We can confirm however that over 20 persons were facilitated by charter flights to Antigua, knowing also that the ferry did not sail until 2.00 p.m. Friday.
