– THAG President agrees with safe, limited reopening of businesses

EVEN though health protocols have been instituted to help mitigate the spread and impact of COVID-19, the extended closure of businesses affects persons’ livelihoods significantly, and President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Mitra Ramkumar, reasoned that giving some ‘ease up’ to businesses will ultimately help to promote better adherence to health guidelines.

Since March 2020, the global pandemic has forced many businesses – save for those essential services – to shut their doors. Businesses that are not seen as a necessity, including bars, cinemas and other entertainment spaces, have been closed for almost a year.

“If you look at all of the small bars alone, look at the amount of people they employ…. (owners) are saying that they just want to open just to meet their expenses and pay their staff,” Ramkumar told the Guyana Chronicle during a recent interview.

Due to the extended restrictions to the operations of such businesses, many business owners claimed that they have been forced to reopen and operate, even if it meant breaching the Gazetted COVID-19 guidelines.

The THAG President highlighted that over the past few months, he has fielded numerous complaints about businesses in poor economic standing because they have not been able to pay their mortgages, upkeep their facilities or, importantly, continue employing their staff. It has been an economic catastrophe, with the spinoff effects leading to individuals’ inability to provide for themselves and their families.

Even Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, during an address to the nation on Saturday, related that during his various outreach activities across the country, several business owners and employees have complained about the prolonged closures.

According to the COVID-19 Emergency Measures (no. 14), which will take effect from February 1, and will last for the entire month, indoor dining is now permitted at bars and restaurants. Indoor dining and the opening of bars were prohibited for almost a year. Though allowing indoor dining at bars and restaurants may be seen as incompatible with national efforts to mitigate the spread and impact of COVID-19, President Ali emphasised that balancing the health considerations with the economic impact prolonged closures might have on businesses is key to managing the pandemic well. And, Ramkumar agrees.

“The focus needs to be on how you can open, how you can operate safely as opposed to shutting down, because we’ve been so long into the shutdown,” the THAG official said, adding: “Even in places of entertainment, the focus has to be on how it can be done safely.”

Ramkumar related that THAG has been advocating on behalf of local businesses in the hospitality sector, but central to these advocacy efforts is assurance from the businesses that they will operate with certain standards. The indoor dining now permitted will only be during the hours of 04:00 am to 9:30 pm. As detailed in the official gazette also, indoor dining at a restaurant and bar is restricted to 40 per cent capacity of the building, tables must be spaced six feet apart and no more than four persons are to be seated at one table, and each person must be three feet apart.

President Ali related that generally accepted industry standards indicate that businesses require at least 35 per cent occupancy to meet overhead costs. And, to prevent bankruptcy and to reduce the risk local businesses are exposed to, these measures have been introduced to provide some relief to them.

Indoor dining at bars and restaurants are being monitored by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA); businesses are required to organise their premises in compliance with the adequate spacing and sanitisation guidelines. So far, 40 businesses have received authorisation to offer limited indoor dining.

“You don’t want to force people to operate illegally, you want to ensure that the measures you put in place make sense and adapt to the reality of the situation you face,” Ramkumar said.

He explained that with these regulatory systems in place, businesses are allowed to operate and earn – though not at the level it earned before – while maintaining safe guidelines. On the contrary, he related that without such concessions, businesses may operate clandestinely, where there is little to no regulation on their activities.

Though cinemas have not yet been given the ‘greenlight’ to reopen, Ramkumar highlighted that these businesses have felt the brunt of the restrictions due to the pandemic. And this was confirmed by General Manager of Movietowne Guyana, Rochelle Parsram, who lamented that the mall’s cinemas – arguably its biggest attraction – has been closed since March last year.

Movietowne has committed that if allowed to reopen, even at a limited capacity, there will be adequate spacing and sanitation to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 can be curtailed. Meanwhile, Ramkumar highlighted that in addition to the economic need for the reopening of businesses, humans themselves need certain activities to relax and rejuvenate themselves.