Young: Plans for even safer Carnival 2020

Minister of National Security Stuart Young hopes to build on the success of a safe Carnival 2019 to ensure a safe Carnival 2020.

In a phone interview with Newsday on Monday, he said, “In 2019 the population would have seen quite a successful roll-out of all of all of the various arms of national security, and in particular the police service and Defence Force, in making it one of the safest Carnivals that we have had in a long time.

“This was the result of quite a lot of intricate planning and details, which we intend to build upon this year.” His comments came after Newsday spoke to him about the proposed ban on glass bottles for Carnival. Young met with Carnival stakeholders on Friday to discuss this.

Young said he intends to take to Cabinet the planned ban, which would run from 4 am on Carnival Monday to midnight on Carnival Tuesday. He said the ban would add to the safety and security of Carnival. He said the police, Defence Force and intelligence services had again “been working and planning for various safety procedures and operations” for Carnival.

“I expect, as we are in the final planning stages with the police service and Defence Force, that you will see, similar to last year, quite a lot of police officers and Defence Force personnel out on the streets doing their patrols, stationary posts, static posts.” He added, “We will continue to use technology in our attempt to try and provide a safe and secure atmosphere and environment for celebration of Carnival.”