FIVE MONTHS AFTER 97 stranded Ghanaians returned home, the [Barbados] government is still negotiating to make that West African country pay its half of the bill.

Minister of State inthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business Donville Inniss said yesterday in the House of Assembly that Barbados would be reimbursed for the monies spent, which amounted to half of $618 446.40.

He said this was expected to happen soon and discussions were "ongoing" with the new Minister of Finance.

But it was the leader of Government business, Member of Parliament for Christ Church East-Central Ronald Jones who told the House of Assembly that the $802 817.71 from the Consolidated Fund was necessary to cover"certain expenses" for the passengers who came on a flight on February 1 for a two-week stay.

"Some of those passengers remained in Barbados, some 97 persons, others went on to other countries in the Caribbean. Forty-seven were intransit to Trinidad and Tobago, one to Antigua, five to St Lucia as well as three to Jamaica," said Jones.

Cover cost

He added that the Ghanaians were supposed to return home aboard a Ghana Airways flight on February 15 but it never arrived.

"Consequently, the Government of Barbados was required to cover the cost of accommodation and ultimately the cost of repatriating our brothers from the continent of Africa, in Ghana specifically, back to their homeland.

"A decision was taken as part of the accommodation of the Ghanaians to house them at the Paragon base. . . a reasonably large facility which would have given accommodation to persons who were stranded in this country through no fault of their own and therefore certain expenses were undertaken by the Barbados Defence Force on behalf of the Government and the people of Barbados.

"Those expenses totalled $184 371 and that was to ensure that those persons were accommodated in comfortable circumstances, cots, pillows, they were adequately fed and things of that nature," Jones said.

Added to that was the cost of footing the bill for the return chartered flight to the tune of $618 446.40.

Jones, who is the Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, said Barbados had to fulfil its obligations and that he looked forward to more people from the continent visiting here in the future.