A Grenadian professional has accused the Management of the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) of flouting its own Covid-19 protocol that calls for incoming passengers to be picked up on arrival by only fully vaccinated persons.
In an exclusive interview with THE NEW TODAY, the individual expressed dismay with the fact that his brother was able to come onto the compound of the airport at Point Salines to pick him up with not one member of the Security around to check the driver of the vehicle after he came on a LIAT flight from Barbados earlier in the week.
He said the airport was not busy as there was no other flight on the ground and that the LIAT aircraft had brought in about 10 to 15 passengers.
“Absolutely nobody (from Security) was there – they need to be embarrassed. I came out and I called (name withheld) and he was there waiting – he just came and picked me up,” he added.
The MBIA regulation calls for a member of the MBIA Security to check the vaccination card status of the pick-up driver but that never happened.
According to the regulation put in place by the airport authority only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to pick up arriving passengers.
He said that he went so far as to even check with the Ministry of Health on the situation prior to arrival in Grenada and a recording was made available to him pointing out the requirement for only vaccinated persons to be allowed to enter the arrival area of the airport.
He charged that the Covid-19 system in Grenada has seemingly broken down at the airport and described it as “a joke.”
“They are saying that they have protocols in place but they don’t have any protocols in place – it’s a big joke – they are full of nonsense – they ain’t ready yet,” he said.
THE NEW TODAY understands that several of the employees at MBIA fall into the unvaccinated category.
In recent days, Grenada has seen increasing Covid-19 figures especially among international travelers going to stay in hotels.
One employee at a hotel in close proximity to the airport said that the area set aside for Covid-19 victims is almost full to capacity.