THE 90 PLUS AFRICANS who were stranded in Barbados for three months will be heading back home today.

According to a story on Starcom Network News, several of them were given the good news by officer Isaac Asiaphile from the Ghanaian Embassy in Havana, Cuba.

Asiaphile arrived in Barbados last Wednesday to discuss with the Government the repatriation of the visiting Ghanaians and Nigerians.

President of the Israel Lovell Foundation, Trevor Prescod, confirmed that the Africans were leaving and said they were in celebratory mood "as they anticipate with eagerness the possibility of going home. They were cooking, drinking and having fun".

One visitor said: "I feel happy that I am going home and I hope one day I can come back to Barbados.

"Generally, it has been a nightmare, but I was able to achieve my aim because within the first two weeks I was able to contact about 15 shops that intend to do business with me to supply them with fabrics," he said.

Another visitor, who is a businesswoman, said that when she returned home, she would have to rebuild her company.

"I will have to put myself together because as a business- woman who has been away for more than three months, business would have gone down.

"And in spite of my experience here in Barbados, it will not stop me from travelling," she added.

The Africans arrived in Barbados on February 1 on an inaugural flight direct from Ghana and suffered several twists and turns during their stay on the island while awaiting the return flight scheduled for February 15.

That flight never came.

Several of the visitors went on to St Lucia and Trinidad, while the others remained here.

Those who stayed ran out of money to pay for accommodation and food, prompting a number of Barbadians to reach out to them by providing food and shelter.

Took another turn

Others worked briefly on construction projects, while appealing to the Government for temporary work permits.

In early April, the saga of the Ghanaians and Nigerians took another turn when the Immigration Department rounded them up and brought them in to be processed.

They were then taken to a temporary housing facility at the Barbados Defence Force's base at Paragon in Christ Church, where they were given periodical passes to traverse the island.

There are also reports that those stranded in Trinidad would also be going home to Ghana on the same flight today.

Efforts to get a comment from Senator Maxine McClean, or Chief Immigration Officer Gilbert Greaves, were unsuccessful; but a well placed source said they were attending a closed meeting with other officials regarding the Africans' return to Accra, Ghana.