raphael.lall@guardian.co.tt
Barkeepers’ and Owners’ Association of T&T (BOATT) president Satesh Moonasar is confident that it will be “back to full business” for bars come tomorrow, when customers will be able to sit and drink alcohol at their establishments.
“It is a very joyous and happy day that bar owners can actually reopen and provide full service. It’s back to business as usual. However, it is still at a limited capacity, as all outlets will have to operate at 50 per cent capacity. We’ll see a full reopening on Monday. We anticipate a nice turnout,” he told the Sunday Guardian.
From tomorrow (November 1), vaccinated customers will be able to consume alcohol at bars for the first time since August 2020, when Government debarred this activity as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.
However, unvaccinated customers will still only be able to use the grab-and-go service to purchase alcohol.
Since the pandemic started, Moonasar said between 40 to 50 bars had closed permanently across the country. He made it clear all bar owners have been vaccinated and so have their workers.
After being fully closed in April, bars were finally allowed to reopen on October 11 if they were part of the TT Safe Zone initiative, where only fully vaccinated customers were allowed to access establishments.
He lamented, however, that although bars reopened on October 11, business has been “very, very slow.”
“On October 11, only 50 per cent of bars opened their doors. After the first week, we saw a couple more outlets opened. Many owners complained that it was just one per cent of their regular sales. Of course, that is not enough to pay the bills but it was still a start, as doors were allowed to be opened. It was an ideal time to get the wheels of the business running again.”
He remains optimistic that after the Divali holiday, all bars will be fully operational.
“Those bars that have been closed have started the process of cleaning up, hiring staff. In the parts of the country in which a large there is Hindu population, outlets in those areas may remain close until Friday, which is the day after Divali, so after Divali, everyone will be opened.”
Lindsey Whiskey, owner of Scotchie’s Bar in Arima, yesterday told the Sunday Guardian business has been very slow since October 11. He is hopeful things will improve now that vaccinated customers can consume alcohol.
“When we reopened October 11, it was in the middle of the month. Now it is month-end, so we hoping that business will be better. We’re excited to sell alcohol in our establishment from Monday. People were home and want to come out. At the same time, it would not be back to normal. But at least this will allow more sales and it will help me pay a few more bills.”
Kay Maharaj, who owns a bar in Freeport, said she’s “very, very happy” that vaccinated people will be able to buy and consume alcohol at bars. She said COVID remains and the situation is far from perfect, but this is an important step to returning to normalcy.
“Over the last weeks, there have been some people buying from us but business has been slow in general. People buying one or two beers is nothing to cover workers’ salaries. I’m comfortable with people being able to sit and buy drinks in bars now,” Maharaj said.
