“The only persons reasonably comfortable in the current situation are persons who can still collect their salaries”.

While agreeing that we cannot be reckless with citizens’ physical and mental health, opposition leader Kamla Persad Bissessar says the country must know what the short and medium-term plans of the government are. 

At the same time, in a  statement on Monday morning, the Siparia MP asked when will testing outside of CARPHA begin and  what is the target number of UNIQUE tests to be done before they can advise on the date for businesses to reopen?

 “I am suggesting that we immediately implement enhanced health, hygiene, sanitation and occupational safety protocols at all places of business and government offices so that they and the wider economy can be reopened without endangering people’s health when the shutdown is over,” the opposition leader suggested while noting that “most of these protocols and practices are already in place in the industrial sector in our country. We have the expertise and personnel to transfer these systems to other sectors.

 “We can couple this with staggered working hours for different sectors, continue social distancing measures and limit recreational activities to an acceptable minimum. We must determine the way forward through logic and innovation and not through fear and indecision. The most vulnerable in our country needs us now, they cannot depend on government assistance that may never come,” the Opposition Leader said.

“What about those who had nothing to eat this morning? Think about the poor in our society, they are suffering, their lives matter too! Many are having great difficulty in providing for themselves and their loved ones,”  the Opposition Leader said.