#BTColumn – Be consistent with penalties

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Michael Green

I was a recent visitor to your beautiful island and enjoyed seven clear days on the beaches. I chose Barbados to take a break after reading your travel protocols and seeing where if I timed my first  COVID-19 test correctly I would only spend a maximum seventy two hours in quarantine. As it turned out I spent less than forty eight hours in quarantine as I got my second test result in twenty-four hours.

I was therefore disappointed to see a fellow countryman violating the protocols and consequently being sentenced to six months in prison by Chief Justice Ian Weeks as I viewed the quarantine protocols in your country as being very tolerable, as opposed to my country of Jamaica, where travellers from overseas are required to quarantine for fourteen days. Many in my country have viewed the sentence as excessive, I don’t share that sentiment.

However, now that the learned judge has set a precedent, I am of the view that he and other judges presiding in cases of a similar nature are now bound to take similar action. I can assure you that there is great interest in my country in the case now before the court involving the British celebrity who violated the Barbados COVI-19 quarantine protocols. Anything less that what was meted out to our country man will be met by howls of “hypocrisy” and throw back expressions of the legacy of slavery where it is said that the house slaves were worse than the “bacra massa” . I am sure this is not something that any self-respecting Caribbean judge would want on his judicial record.