By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE motion allowing the extension of the State of Emergency (SoE) for another three months has been passed in Parliament.
And the curfew hours from 9pm to 5am remain the same.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley tabled the motion to extend the SoE stating that the only reason why it was extended was to clamp down on night life to prevent congregation and the spread of Covid-19.
All 21 Government Members of Parliament voted for the motion, while all 18 Opposition MPs abstained.
In his closing remarks in the debate Dr Rowley said, “The biggest problem that we have in facilitating the virus permeating the population was by members of the population moving about, mixing and interacting. What the curfew does is ask us to stop doing some of that, not all of it, but some of it. We choose to do that reduction in the night-time as against in the daytime because in the daytime we wanted people to go to work, to do normal daytime things and in the night-time that’s when we give up the mixing and the congregating and the socialising.”
Dr Rowley also said that if Government was satisfied that the deadly virus was no longer a major threat to the population, the SoE will be lifted at any time.
The Opposition has been against the extension asking for reasons. Several of the Opposition Members of Parliament during their contribution to the debate called for workplace policies on vaccination, investigations into Covid-19 deaths and salary relief grants and continued to maintain that the extended SoE was a suppression on livelihoods especially night time businesses and an infringement on citizen’s rights.
The Government maintained that health and frontline workers were burnt out and all hands needed to be on deck for the maintained reduction in Covid-19 cases which results in a lower death rate. Hospitals also continued to be overwhelmed with sick Covid-19 patients and even with vaccination and following the health protocols, stricter measures needed to remain to secure the decrease in cases.
Now that the motion has been passed, President Paula-Mae Weekes is expected to make a proclamation regarding the SoE.
