DAY OF COVID19 POLICING...roadblocks to catch errant non-essential drivers and passengers

IN SCENES reminiscent of the day of total policing back in 2015, thousands of people – essential and non-essential workers alike – were caught in traffic gridlock for hours on Friday, as police staged roadblocks aimed at getting slack non-essential drivers and their passengers off the roads.

This came as both Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and Police Commissioner Gary Griffith noted, separately, an increase in the volume of traffic this week, coinciding with no new covid19 cases locally over the same period.

From as early as 6 am, drivers found themselves in long lines of traffic along all major roads, including the Churchill Roosevelt, Beetham and Audrey Jeffers highways in the north,the Uriah Butler Highway in Central and the Solomon Hochoy Highway in South. The Eastern Main Road and the PBR also saw similar roadblocks. Drivers in Chaguanas said they were stuck in traffic coming to Port of Spain for roughly three hours.

Contacted for an explanation, Commissioner Griffith said the decision to intensify these roadblocks was the result of a noticeable increase in traffic over the past three days. While most of public appeared to be taking stay-at-home orders seriously, he said, there were still errant drivers flouting regulations and being on the road.

"The purpose of the roadblocks is not to cause frustration, but we have noted an increase in drivers on the streets over the past 72 hours, and this is not because the people have emergencies or are part of essential services. It is because people have gotten complacent and have dropped their guards to the coronavirus. As the Commissioner of Police I cannot allow that to happen."

At the daily virtual press conference on Friday, Health Minister Deyalsingh alluded to the traffic, saying he noticed people appeared to be getting complacent as there were no new infections over a 48-hour period.

Asked if he was worried about this, Deyalsingh said “The virus is there waiting to strike the minute and the day we drop our guard. The plateauing of cases does not mean that the virus is not lurking in anyone around us.

He said on his way to the press conference, he encountered a traffic jam by the lighthouse in Port of Spain, which is his benchmark as to whether enough people are following the stay-at-home rules or not. He urged people to continue taking the necessary precautions.

Drivers caught in traffic on the westbound lanes of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway called the newsroom to report the agonising snail's pace as police painstakingly stopped each driver and asked for proof that they were essential workers and thus authorised to be on the road.

Many drivers, the callers said, displayed documents to prove they had reason to be on the highway and were allowed to continue. But they added, many more were told to go to the next traffic lights, turn on to the eastbound lanes of the highway and head back home.

Drivers said container trucks, red-band maxi taxis and trucks and vans carrying hardware supplies were allowed to proceed and mostly cars were seen being turned back. A driver said it took almost an hour to get from the traffic lights at Orange Grove to those at Macoya.

Apart from all the highways, other major roadblocks were reported on the old Southern Main Road in Chaguanas; Old St Joseph Road in Laventille; the Western Main Road in St James; St Mary's Junction, Freeport and Valencia Junction.

Acknowledging the inconvenience, Griffith said it was necessary. "Really, there should only be two categories of people on the streets and those are the workers of essential services and businesses or people going to seek essential services or businesses. The unfortunate thing about these roadblocks is that essential workers were among those affected."

On March 27, National Security Minister Stuart Young made public a list of people considered essential workers which included members of the protective services, groceries, pharmacies, hardwares, port operations, automotive repair and maintenance facilities, manufacturers and distributors of food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, postal and shipping services and public transportation only operating at a 50 per cent capacity.

The increased roadblocks are only one part of police plans to tackle people and businesses who disregard stay-at-home orders. Griffith said they are closely monitoring ways certain non-essential businesses are trying to stay open on the down-low.

Referring to certain bars and clubs, he said, "In the central division we saw a brief upsurge in certain bars trying to open their back doors to customers. But we spoke to owners about it and they closed. Since then only about three people have been held in relation to that.

The stay-at-home order was implemented on March 30 and is expected to remain in place until April 30. Senior officers at Divisions said it was too early to state exactly how many drivers were ordered back to their homes in the roadblocks.

An officer of the Northern Division said in one incident, he confronted a non-essential worker who claimed he was dropping off food for his mother. "I asked him to show me the food and he couldn't. It just goes to show the lengths some people will go to try and justify being on the road."

On social media, some were critical of the roadblocks as they complained about the time stuck in traffic, while others praised it as a necessary police action. Under one story about the traffic congestion on Newsday's Facebook page, one person accused police of not focusing on more serious crimes, while others defended the roadblocks because of concern over the virus spreading.