AG begs public: Hold strain a bit longer

ATTORNEY General Faris Al-Rawi on Sunday appealed to the population to "hold on a bit longer" and adhere to the adjusted curfew periods which will be implemented only for the Indian Arrival Day and Corpus Christi public holidays, on Monday and Thursday this week, respectively.

At a virtual news conference on Sunday, he premised his appeal on the Prime Minister's announcement a day earlier that Trinidad and Tobago will be receiving additional doses of covid19 vaccines, starting next month.

Al-Rawi said money was not an issue in acquiring covid19 vaccines. He supported statements by Dr Rowley and Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh about acquiring more vaccines and accelerating Government's vaccination programme, respectively.

He reminded citizens that compliance with the public health and state of emergency (SoE) regulations, while more people get fully vaccinated, offers the best chance of rolling back restrictions and doing a phased re-opening of the economy.

Al-Rawi also advised any businesses which attempted to breach the regulations by selling pre-packaged food at essential businesses, which are allowed to operate under the regulations, to desist from doing so.

He explained the amendments to the SoE regulations issued in Legal Notice 176 by President Paula-Mae Weekes on Sunday and the subsequent Emergency Powers (Variation of Curfew Times) Order 2021, contained in Legal Notice 177, approved by Comissioner of Police (CoP) Gary Griffith under the authority of President Paula-Mae Weekes.

The former spoke about essential services being able to operate within a 5 am to 10 am period on Monday and Thursday of this week, only. It also clarified that restaurants were closed and forbidden to sell pre-packaged food to any of these essential services outlets.

In the latter, Griffith explained the curfew on Monday runs from 10.02 am on that day to 5 am on the following day, Tuesday. He said on Thursday, the curfew runs from 10.02 am on that day until 5 am the next day, on Friday.

Responding to questions about how do the temporary curfew changes affect essential workers, essential business and ordinary citizens, Al-Rawi said, "You can move about at 5 am to 10 am," he said. "Just for five hours, we'll allow movement for special purposes."

He spelt out these exceptions as to allow for attending places of worship for weddings or funerals. He said pharmacies and gas stations may open for the morning but not supermarkets.

Al-Rawi said all people working in approved essential services will be allowed to work. He advised essential workers to ensure they had curfew passes and/or to call a police hotline to explain why they need to be out. Al-Rawi said patients needing urgent medical care like dialysis will be allow to be out but people with covid19 vaccination appointments will be rescheduled.