By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

TWO hundred and seventy-eight Chinese nationals, including more than 100 former workers of The Pointe, travelled to China on Friday as the West Bay Street development nears completion, according to Chinese counsellor Haigang Yin.

He said yesterday: “CCA, the company who is running The Pointe project, arranged the transfer flight for late Friday which brought more than 100 Chinese workers and more than 100 Chinese nationals to China.

“Altogether, 278 Chinese were taken back to China. This was done because on the one hand the project is almost completed. More than 100 have finished their job here and some of them have been delayed for a month in returning to China. The other Chinese nationals want to go back to China for a period of time so the Chinese Embassy together with CCA organised the charter flight. The Pointe is very close to its final completion. Several dozen workers and managers have stayed in The Bahamas for the final completion.”

Videos of scores of Chinese nationals wearing hazmat suits at Lynden Pindling International Airport ahead of their trip to China circulated online over the weekend.

“Several hundred Chinese nationals are working in The Bahamas,” the counsellor also said, “either in Chinese companies or hired by other businesses like restaurants and supermarkets. Chinese nationals typically travel between China and The Bahamas from time to time but because of the pandemic they did not travel back to China since earlier this year and some expressed their desire to go back so that’s why we worked on that arrangement of a China flight.”

In early September, more than 100 Chinese workers demonstrated in front of the Chinese Embassy, expressing their desire to go home as soon as possible. The workers, wearing hardhats and construction vests, declined to be interviewed.

At the time, Mr Yin said the Chinese Embassy and China Construction America were doing their best to arrange the workers’ return to China, including coordinating a chartered flight in the near future.

China Construction America broke ground on The Pointe development on August 6, 2015. Seen as a vehicle to rejuvenate the downtown area, the resort development will feature a residential complex and many other amenities.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration announced on Friday that the government repatriated 21 Chinese nationals at 8.09pm. The group consisted of 13 men and eight women who left LPIA on board Gulliv Air Flight 702 en route to Sophia, Bulgaria then onward to Yong Zhou, China.

“All passengers met international travel requirements, inclusive of COVID-19 negative tests conducted at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre. It is anticipated that additional similar exercises are forthcoming,” the Department of Immigration said.