WE WELCOME the news that Guyanese visiting Barbados will soon be able to do so hassle-free.

According to this country's Honorary Consul to Barbados, Mr. Norman Faria, the good news is in a package to develop inter-regional travel and links in tourism and trade between the two countries.

There have been many complaints about Guyanese being subject to undue harassment by the Barbados Immigration authorities and several of these incidents have been reported in the media.

Mr. Faria himself has had to comment on some of these cases and intervene in others.

Any effort at removing these unbearable irritants to travel by well-meaning Guyanese should therefore be welcomed.

Our people have for far too long been unduly put through `pressures' at the ports of entry of several Caribbean islands.

Mr. Faria brought his good news Wednesday at a one-day seminar titled 'Bridging the Gap' at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown.

The seminar was held by the Caribbean Tourism Development Services Limited, a private tourism and marketing company, and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry.

"They (all the principals involved) have given assurance to the Barbadian authorities that all the immigration and customs regulations at the Barbados end will be respected", Mr. Faria reported.

He said the Guyana Consulate would only get directly involved in the programme as visitors arrive by dealing with Guyanese citizens generally when their rights are violated.

Mr. Faria cited instances of Guyanese travellers having valid passports and immigration officials having no reasonable ground to refuse them entry, explaining that the Consulate will make some enquiries with regard to the rights of traveller(s).

He noted that efforts have been made by the Guyana Government and the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana to solve this problem via meetings with the relevant authorities in Barbados and are still working on it.

We join in commending former Foreign Minister, Mr. Clement Rohee for the "fine job" Mr. Faria noted he did in raising the matter with the Barbados Government at several levels.

"I know this personally because I met with Ms. Billie Miller who was Minister Rohee's counterpart while he was in (that) office...so I know that type of interaction was going on and obviously it would have had some effect because once they know the Guyanese Government is concerned about what is happening to Guyanese travellers at Barbados' port of entry, of course, they would (inform) the immigration and customs authorities to follow the regulations...and they have to be careful with how they treat Guyanese nationals", Mr. Faria said.

Mr. Faria deserves credit too for taking the initiative to overcome these difficulties in collaboration with agencies in Barbados.

Matters have not been helped by the behaviour of some Guyanese travellers but a few bad eggs cannot be justification for ridiculous treatment in any country for Guyanese travellers.

We welcome this latest effort and hope it leads to a change for the better for all.