$5000 fine for those on Regent Street without masks

Acting Chief Constable of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council on Thursday announced that any person found walking without  a mask in public anywhere in Georgetown and more particularly Regent Street, will be made to pay a fine of five thousand dollars.

He made the comment before accompanying Superintendent of Police John Barker from the Guyana Police Force and other representatives of the city constabulary and police on a walkabout along Regent Street, Robb Street and North Road.

The team conducted a sweep where they sensitize and remind business owners that it is their duty to ensure persons entering their establishments wear masks and uses the sanitizers prior.

“We have an exercise where we want to sensitize persons about the importance of observing the Covid guidelines and at the same time looking to see what systems are in place to ensure that when persons enter the stores they are sanitized. We have decided that if persons are found not wearing masks, they will have to pay a fine of five thousand dollars to City Council and we intend to increase that exercise and we are going to be working with the national guidelines to ensure that persons adhere to the guidelines” Livingston told this publication

Meanwhile, Superintendent Barker in speaking with this publication, explained that the exercise on Thursday was a collaborative effort between the Guyana Police Force, City Hall and the Covid-19 Taskforce.

“We are trying to educate and remind persons that Covid may be here with us for a long time so we need to adopt and in so doing, we need to ensure adherence to the guidelines that will allow us to beat this pandemic. All we need people to do is adhere, protect themselves and family and more than likely we will be able to beat this pandemic” Superintendent Barker told Big Smith News Watch.

The numbers in Guyana have been increasing rapidly over the last few weeks even as the country ramps up testing and vaccination exercises.

The challenge, however, is that persons including business operators, customers, operators of sports bars and other establishments continue to flout aspects of the Covid-19 guidelines.