Continue to stay at home, says AG

Attorney General Dale Marshall is reminding Barbadians that the island is still in curfew mode.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Marshall said that while Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley told the nation last week that due to progress made in the fight against COVID-19, the country was now moving to phase 2 which would see the new curfew hours changed to 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., “Clause 23 of the Curfew Directive states that no person may leave his home except in accordance with this directive”.

“What that means is that unless you are leaving your home to fulfill any of the allowed things, you have no right to be away from your home. So every Barbadian is to be at home unless they are going to the supermarket in accordance with the alphabet, or they are going to the pharmacy to fill prescriptions.

“Unless they are going to work in any of the businesses that will be opened, unless they are going to the hardware store, or obviously seeking medical attention or making a complaint to the police, you have to be at home. There is no other way of putting it. The directive is absolutely clear,” he said.

Last Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced that the 24-hour stay-at-home order is to revert to an overnight curfew from Monday May 4 as Government moves to a staged re-opening of business.

The Prime Minister also warned Barbadians that normalcy would not fully return to the island until after a COVID-19 vaccine was found. She said that Government may take further action if the measures fail to slow the spread of the virus.

A person who breaches the new movement guidelines in place from May 4 to 17, without reasonable explanation is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of $50 000 or to imprisonment for a term of one year or both pursuant to paragraph 15 (1) of the Emergency Management (COVID-19) Order, 2020.

“Barbados will continue to be in a state of curfew for a further two weeks. What we have changed is the time in an effort to more readily accommodate those businesses that we are allowing to open and to provide greater flexibility so as not to create bunching in the transport system we have extended the shutdown hour to 8 o’clock and extended the opening hours to 5 p.m. But we are still definitely in the state of curfew, for all those Barbadians who still want to pretend that they are still confused,” Marshall said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb