Despite immigration officials indicating that the number of officers scheduled reported for work at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) yesterday, several visitors and personnel at the airport complained of long delays for a second straight day.
A disabled West Palm Beach visitor, who identified herself as Mrs. Davis, said it was "terrible" standing in line for several hours.
Davis and her husband said they do not recall waiting times being anywhere near as long when they travelled to The Bahamas around this time of year in the past.
But for the couple the worst part was the lack of accommodations for people with disabilities, Davis said.
"It was just terrible. I am handicapped," Davis said.
"...Getting off the plane, walking down steps, and walking up more steps, and then to the main area for immigration it was like a mile and a half.
"There were no facilities to take care of the handicapped. This is not good. I will remember this."
She added, "In other places we have stopped it was never like this."
Davis was among several other visitors exiting the international arrivals section of LPIA who shared similar stories of congested lines and long waiting times.
German nationals, who identified themselves as Berged and Ken, who travelled from Philadelphia, said, "You know, you just get tired.
"We understand that today (Thursday) is Thanksgiving in the Untied States, and maybe you celebrate something similar to that in The Bahamas. I do not know."
Another visitor from Washington D.C., who was traveling with his wife and young daughter, said while his flight was pleasant, the long lines were frustrating.
"Everything was king of slow. Too many people with too few immigration officers, I think," he said.
Harrison King, a public service driver of 15 years, who works LPIA, said the vast majority of visitors he encountered yesterday, and on Wednesday, complained about delays.
He claimed in several cases, visitors complained about having to wait in line for more than two hours.
"They are frustrated and I think it is a disgrace," King said. "We need to do better than we are doing.
"Whatever problem that we may be having we are creating more problems because at the end of the day we need the tourists.
"They do not need us. We need to get our act together. Our service is deplorable."
Director of Immigration William Pratt said yesterday he understood all officers turned up for work and the lines should have been manageable.
But that was not the case on Wednesday when hundreds of visitors were subjected to significant delays after eight of the 12 scheduled officers called in sick.
Pratt acknowledged the shortage presented a challenge.
He said the department would be prepared for any eventuality such as a "sick-out", including restructuring resources.
Executives of the Bahamas Customs, Immigration and Allied Workers Union have denied there was any sick-out or work to rule at LPIA.
In an interview with The Nassau Guardian yesterday, BCIAWU President Sloane Smith said he was at the airport during the Thanksgiving rush.
"Remember now, people go on breaks and so on and so forth during the course of the day because they don't have it where you have everyone in the booth the whole time," he said.
"People go and take breaks. They take a lunch break and that kind of thing. So whatever the numbers are, if it was two people absent, how do you link two people being absent with that being a sick-out?
"That whole thing is just fundamentally flawed."
BCIAWU Vice President Cordero Edgecombe made a similar point.
He again denied there was any industrial action on Wednesday.
The union has been embroiled in a dispute with the government over lump sum payments and promotion concerns, among other issues.
In a press statement yesterday, the government said it is waiting for the union's legal counsel, Trade Union Congress President Obie Ferguson, to return to the negotiating table to finalize the BCIAWU's contract.
The contract will facilitate lump sum payments to officers, who the ministry described as "hardworking uniformed members".

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