President, Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that more army and police will be on the ground to deal with Covid-19 rule-breakers and that business owners and managers who flout the Task Force rules will suffer greater consequences. The President made these pronouncements during a Presidential Press Briefing at State House yesterday.
In explaining the problematic nature of dealing with rule-breakers, the Head of State used last weekend as an example, where over 1000 persons were on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
He explained that arresting them would have caused overcrowding and could have led to more infections. To counter this, the Head of State said that his Government will go after persons who create the atmosphere for these environments, including unscrupulous business owners and managers.
“I have asked the Prime Minister (Head of the Covid-19 Task Force) to discuss with the task force how we now shift the focus on the owners of these facilities and the managers of these facilities. If the owners and managers allow these breaches at their facilities, then they will be charged to the full extent of the law.”
The President said that moving forward, there will also be a more robust enforcement process.
“We are now going to add more boots on the ground from the army and the police to support that enforcement, and we are going to put more resources into this.”
The President noted that he was disappointed with the attitude of some Guyanese, who continue to ignore the stipulated guidelines that are in place to protect the health of all.
People need “to understand that their lives matter, the lives of their family members matter, the lives of people in their community matter and that they cannot be this reckless”.
According to the President, regardless of whether persons have been vaccinated or not, they must follow the Covid-19 guidelines.
“We had hoped that common sense would have prevailed in following the established guidelines, but unfortunately, it hasn’t. The enforcement, therefore, of these guidelines will be further strengthened and enhanced,” he said.
