Do we exist? A cry from cinema workers

THE EDITOR: Every weekend I sit anxiously and listen attentively to our Prime Minister address the nation on matters concerning the reopening of our economy. Yet every weekend I am left disappointed.

Another press conference has passed and still no acknowledgement to the cinema sector on any plans of reopening. It is upsetting to know that I, a law-abiding citizen who has contributed to this country with my skills, knowledge and payment of taxes, seems to be invisible to our Prime Minister. Do we exist? That is the common sentiment among my colleagues.

Yes, I understand there was a need to partially shut down the country in an effort to curtail the surge in covid19 cases back in May. However, the data shows we have come a long way since then. We have more than 800,000 doses of vaccines available to the public and while the cases have plateaued, it has been mentioned time after time that we must learn to live with the virus.

To make matters worse, our borders were reopened about a month ago, allowing both vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens to travel to and from our country. While I have no objection to this, I must ask: what is the difference between sitting in a plane which is a confined space and sitting in a cinema which is another confined space?

Last time I checked, it takes about four hours to travel from Trinidad to Miami. The average length of a movie is one hour and 30 minutes. So the difference really is that you are likely to spend less time in a cinema than on a plane. Yet we are allowed to travel but can’t visit a cinema.

If the argument is congregation, we were already operating under a restriction of 50 per cent capacity and had put measures in place to ensure that movie showtimes were staggered to allow patrons enough time to leave before another movie started.

Going to the cinema is a passive activity. You are sitting and staring at a distance from other people. Additionally, the cinema sector has demonstrated its ability to enforce and adhere to all covid19 guidelines.

We are told to hold on a little longer but how much longer can we hold on? We, like the rest of the nation, also have bills to pay, families to care for, loans and credit cards to address. Can we tell the banks to hold on?

While the rest of the country is moving on, we the forgotten workers in the cinema sector are dealing with mounting debts and no assistance from the Government (no grants received to date), far less for an acknowledgement from the Government that we exist.

KRISTINA CELESTINE

cinema worker