One year ago tomorrow, the governor general issued a state of emergency. This came three days after The Bahamas recorded its first case of COVID-19.
While Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and his cheerleading ministers praise his leadership “which saved lives”, two primary criticisms of the Minnis administration’s pandemic response remain valid one year after COVID-19 was confirmed in The Bahamas: The failure to consistently demonstrate the science behind certain decisions taken, and the uneven application of the emergency order.
The country remains under a state of emergency with certain islands still having a curfew in place as Minnis has argued that his emergency powers are needed to keep the coronavirus at bay.
Meanwhile, the Free National Movement (FNM) and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) are upping campaign activities even as certain restrictive measures stipulate that citizens must continue to adhere to the social distance protocol, and still face stringent restrictions on weddings, funerals and social gatherings.
You would never know from looking at recent campaign activities that social gatherings on New Providence are prohibited.
The political parties would tell you that their campaign events are not social gatherings, but they are purely playing semantics here.
On Saturday, Minnis moved through Centreville with a large crowd, boasting that his party will win all 39 seats in Parliament.
FNMs and PLPs also descended on many other constituencies.
Last evening, crowds of jubilant PLP supporters socialized outside Faith United Missionary Baptist Church as the party’s National General Council met.
Though a flier advertising the event said COVID-19 protocols will be enforced, there was no social distancing.
Even as families are still prohibited from holding funerals in churches, we are constantly being sent releases by the government’s public relations arm, Bahamas Information Services (BIS), showing Minnis and other officials in churches with large numbers of people.
This is insulting. It makes continued restrictions on funerals and weddings impossible to explain and likely fuels greater angst toward the current administration.
In late January, BIS released photos of Governor General C.A. Smith attending a funeral in church. It is wonderful that the deceased’s family was able to hold a funeral at St. Barnabas Anglican Church as they gave her the dignified send-off she deserved, but what is the message that was sent to other families who were made to adhere to the emergency order?
On New Providence, Paradise Island and Abaco, a wedding may be held with no more than 20 people, exclusive of the officiant, in attendance, in a religious facility in accordance with the protocols established by the Bahamas Christian Council and approved by the Ministry of Health.
Graveside services only are permitted with a maximum of 20 people exclusive of the officiant and mortuary workers.
No wedding receptions or funeral repasts are permitted. Memorial services in a funeral home or chapel are also still prohibited.
Again, social gatherings are prohibited.
There are heavy fines for breaches.
A host would face a $2,000 fine and each attendee a $300 fine for breaches.
On other islands, restrictions are eased, but they still exist.
A wedding may be held in a church, a facility, or outdoors on certain islands provided that the number of attendees inclusive of officiants is limited in accordance with the physical distance protocol; a person may host or attend a wedding reception provided that all attendees adhere to the physical distance protocol and a funeral may be held in a church or other religious facility provided that the number of attendees is limited in accordance with the physical distance protocol.
Again, not so for New Providence.
It makes no sense that outdoor restaurants are able to have their tables filled with customers, but couples are not permitted to host wedding receptions in the same manner.
What science is there that makes it acceptable and less risky for outdoor restaurants to operate, but not to host wedding receptions?
Some couples are getting around this rule by taking their wedding guests out to dinner.
Earlier on in the pandemic, the prime minister tried to explain that funerals in churches were prohibited on New Providence because mourners have a tendency to get emotional and that could contribute more easily to the spread of the coronavirus.
But truly, it is nonsensical for the prime minister, other government officials and law enforcement officials to attend church services, and for the general citizenry to be allowed to attend church services, but families are still prevented from holding funeral services in churches even though the COVID-19 case count on New Providence has been low in recent weeks.
The prime minister has failed to explain the science behind keeping restrictions in place while allowing politicians and other officials to still hold their events in churches and elsewhere.
On Monday evening, BIS sent out photos of Prime Minister Minnis and other FNMs attending the National Convention of the Church of God of Prophecy at the East Street Tabernacle. Photos show a good crowd at the event. From what we could tell, everyone wore masks, but not everyone was socially distanced.
Earlier this month, BIS released images of police officers attending Golden Gates Outreach Ministries on Carmichael Road to mark the start of police month. All the officers wore masks and there was good social distancing.
It is absurd to accept that families, even those in mourning, lack the discipline to respect protocols, simply because they are “emotional”. The prime minister is robbing many families of being able to give their loved ones a dignified send-off, while allowing other church services to take place.
Defense
While we are not likely to see any mass rallies in the coming months, the FNM and PLP are determined to make their presence felt in the various constituencies.
And they are not apologizing for it either.
Asked on Saturday to respond to Bahamians who might question the number of people participating in the walkabout he led in Centreville, Minnis said, “Every individual [is] wearing their mask.
“They’re wearing it properly and when we visit homes, they don’t go inside. What happens is only two or three would go — myself and the candidate.
“If it’s a very elder[ly] individual, we speak to them from the outside. We don’t go inside.
“In terms of the numbers, the numbers are large, but in addition to that, the numbers [are] adhering to the protocols that we put in place.”
Yesterday, Health Minister Renward Wells also defended recent campaign events, during which large crowds participated despite the standing emergency order that prohibits social gatherings.
“I think that as long as there are health protocols in place, individuals ought to be observing those health protocols,” he told reporters outside Cabinet.
“I campaign. I observe the protocols. I wear my mask. A lot of the women want to hug. The men want to shake hands. And you have to be able to ‘dap’ and…
“So, from the standpoint of just campaigning, it isn’t the activity that’s the issue. It’s whether or not you’re engaging in the kinds of protocol while you’re in that activity.
“I will say that when it comes to entering a third wave, there is the possibility of that if we do not continue to maintain the protocols that were put in place that have helped us to not only get our hands around this virus but to keep the numbers down.”
Wells denied that politicians are being hypocritical and shirking responsibility.
Asked whether he thought it was hypocritical of him to campaign with a large group given that he is the minister of health and has often called on Bahamians and residents to avoid large gatherings, Wells said: “If you have a group of persons, 10 individuals gathering in a particular area and walking, that is different than having 50 individuals all together in a particular group and walking.”
Again, this makes no sense.
Way more than 10 people were campaigning with Minnis on Saturday. Minnis himself bragged, “the numbers are large”.
As far as the government is concerned, 100 individuals campaigning pose no risk for the spread of coronavirus, but more than 20 in a graveyard for a funeral do.
Our politicians are beyond hypocritical.
The ongoing emergency restrictions could make sense – in the context of outlined science and if government, law enforcement officials, and everyone else is made to abide by an equal set of rules.
This has been the issue since the very beginning of our pandemic experience. The rules were not the same for everyone.
Certain businesses got the advantage. One high-end premises, for example, was permitted to sell alcohol when liquor establishments were shut down.
Foreigners were allowed to have a wedding with scores of individuals, while everyone else was told their families and friends could not attend their weddings.
Many have painfully buried their dead with some of the children, grand children and other close relatives and friends outside cemeteries on the side of the road because the competent authority said only 10 could attend.
Of course, it is quite evident that many have long been violating the rules. There is also a sense that the rules are not being strictly enforced as they once were, but for the rest of people who want to adhere to the law, what is transpiring is insulting and unfair.
The competent authority should change the law or make sure that everyone is playing by the same rules.
The post No state of emergency for politicians appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/no-state-of-emergency-for-politicians/
No comments:
Post a Comment