Senior cop chases away downtown limers

DESPITE what he says is a decrease in the number of people on the streets of downtown Port of Spain over the past week, Snr Supt Daniel Moore is still not pleased with the number of limers on the Brian Lara Promenade, and intends to crack down on people who do not obey stay-at-home regulations.

Moore and a contingent of police from Port of Spain Division hit the streets on Friday afternoon, reminding shoppers to observe social distancing. Newsday visited lower Charlotte Street at around midday.

Most of the earlier crowds had already dispersed, with the majority gathering near pharmacies and groceries, unlike the previous Friday, when, at around the same time, shoppers and vendors crowded pavements and corners.

More shoppers wore facemasks than on the previous Friday. Speaking with Newsday at the promenade, Moore said while he was pleased with the apparent reduction in the number of people on Charlotte and Queen Streets compared to last week, he lamented that there were still people who thought they could break the rules by liming on the streets. During his walkabout in downtown, Moore questioned several people about why they were outdoors and told them to go home if they had finished shopping.

“Again, what we’ve been seeing is, people are buying alcohol at the groceries and sitting on the benches of the promenade to drink and lime.

“We have seen a few of them and have already told them to go home, but they wait for us to leave.

“Then they come back out and continue to lime.

“We’ve been patient with a few people. It’s the end of the month and we have seen a few elderly people sitting at the benches to take a rest before they go to the taxi stands. So we allow them, but we aren’t tolerating any limers on the promenade,”

Snr Supt Moore said.

During his walkabout Moore visited banks to ensure customers were observing social distancing while waiting in line outside.

Newsday spoke to roadside vendor Cara Neccles, who said she had also noticed a decrease in the number of people compared to the previous days.

“I’ve seen a lot more older folks out and about,” she said. “They tend to just want to buy the essentials and get back home as quickly as possible ,whereas the younger ones will want to shop around and look for the best deal.”