Marlborough Weekly - 3 August 2021

Redwood Hub Shopping Centre, Redwoodtown

Phone 03 578 0433

www.bikesandscooters.co.nz

Tuesday 3 August 2021

Pie perfect

Rangers on the lead

Page 6

Page 20

Ava, Josh, Isaac and Natasha Vincent face many months apart as New Zealand’s overloaded MIQ system struggles to cope. Photo: Supplied.

Family’s quarantine nightmare Isaac Vincent will soon turn 9 years old and has his heart set on his dad being there for his birthday. Seafarer Josh Vincent is currently thousands of kilometres away on a ship in the Mediterranean. And after struggling to secure

a spot in New Zealand’s overloaded Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) booking system, the dad of two is losing hope he will make his son’s special day in October. The former Royal New Zealand Navy serviceman says the situation

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is so bad he is considering giving up the career he loves. “The government already recognises foreign seafarers but returning Kiwi seafarers are not. The system does not recognise seafarers’ unique situation and makes it very hard to continue

employment. “We are taxpayers and NZ citizens and yet we are forgotten. Should we give up our jobs just because the government is unable to provide capacity in MIQ? “I’ve literally checked it [the MIQ booking system] thousands of

times. I can log in and put in my passport details and all I see are the next few months greyed out with crosses. “There is just nothing available and it’s incredibly frustrating.”

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