GOVT TO RELAX CURFEW?

THE Government is considering relaxing the 9 p.m. curfew by two hours. 

If a decision is taken in favour of easing the curfew, it would be announced on Wednesday August 25, when Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley pilots a motion in Parliament on the State of Emergency. 

Through the motion, the Government is seeking to extend the SoE by three months. 

The emergency provisions were introduced on May 15 and extended by three months on May 24. 

The SoE was introduced as one measure in limiting public activity in order to counter the highly contagious Covid-19 virus. 

The virus has so far cost more than 1,200 lives in Trinidad and Tobago. 

An 11 p.m. curfew would permit longer opening hours for retail commercial shops and allow people to stay outside of their homes later into the evening. 

The police service has complained of motorists rushing home to comply with the current 9 p.m. lockdown, and, in the process, often driving dangerously. 

There are mixed responses to the impending extension of the curfew. 

Some are saying that it would, among other things, keep a check on night-time criminal activities, while others are asking for evidence that the SoE is curbing the spread of Covid-19. 

The sitting of the House of Representatives would begin at 1:30 p.m.