Dear Editor,

I congratulate the government of Nigeria which has recently signed an agreement with Jamaica to operate flights from the Caribbean direct to Africa. It is long overdue for us to be able to access the rest of the world without travelling through the USA and England, both of which seem to take pleasure in denying visas to Jamaicans.

A much-travelled 70-year-old friend who has resided in her own Beverly Hills home for 30+ years, was recently refused a UK visa to transit that country on a fully paid-up ticket to attend a wedding in Paris. The reason given after several “come-back-tomorrow” trips to the British High Commission in Kingston, was that even though she had been issued several UK visas in the past, the officer “was not satisfied that (she) will be maintained adequately in the UK without resource to public funds” while intransit to Paris. The High Commission also questioned whether her Paris-based sister, with whom she would have stayed, was able to afford to host her stay. Having applied well in advance of her ticketed departure date, she was crestfallen to be refused a visa on the day she hoped to travel.

This astonishing story shows even more clearly that the British attitude to people of African descent continues to be racially biased. I therefore welcome the news that soon the need for US and UK visas will no longer be an obstacle to Caribbean-based travellers using the new route.

Barbara Blake Hannah

PO Box 727

Kingston 6