IT is not surprising that the invoking of the law that mandates night clubs to close at 2.a.m. has engendered a fierce debate. After all, night life is a lucrative industry in this country. Although Guyana is not a major tourist attraction, Georgetown is one of the most vibrant after-hours cities in the Caribbean. Many Guyanese, particularly the young people, look forward to hitting the clubs, bars and other hangout spots, especially at the weekend.

But the growth of this vibrant night life has not come without the downsides. Noise nuisance has long been a problem. In any given week, one could read letters in the newspapers and hear calls on the radio and TV call-in shows complaining about the discomfort caused by the loud music that often goes into the wee hours of the morning. In addition, as Minister Ramjattan has observed, there are other dangerous consequences of late partying, such as the high rate of road accidents.
Patrons have understandably complained about their right to assemble while club and bar owners have pointed to the potential loss of earnings. These are legitimate complaints that should not be dismissed out of hand. Those by the businesspeople, in particular, are compelling. In a small economy such as ours, the night life industry helps to increase economic opportunities, not only for the bar owners, but for the small vendors who ply their products outside these spots.
The complaints of patrons, though less compelling, are understandable. There are the obvious club and bar regulars. But there are other citizens who may want a night out after a long week, but are not able to leave home until their kids are in bed, or those who work the late shift but still want to catch that special celebration at a club.
But these concerns must be balanced with the complaints of other citizens who are negatively affected by the loud music and boisterous patrons. The former are the majority and are entitled to peace and quiet at night.
While heavy drinking at bars and clubs is not the only cause of road accidents at night, one cannot doubt that it is a major contributory factor. In addition, clubs have become a major hub of all kinds of illicit activities, which have consequences for other aspects of life in the society.
The Government has the job of both respecting the rights of citizens and maintaining law and order. The most successful governments are those that are able to balance the two. We are satisfied that the Government, in this instance, is justified in imposing the curfew. It is a bold step in striking the balance. It is not putting an end to partying; it is merely asking patrons to adjust their hours of partying. The new measure would take some time to kick in. But in the end, everyone will get accustomed to it. In most states in the U.S., for example, 2 a.m. is the cut-off time.
The balance between rights and order is as old as civilisation and the affected citizens are not always all happy. We think that this bold move by the Government could well be the beginning of the restoration of public discipline in our country, where citizens cannot be too proud of our track record in this regard.