The Bar­keep­ers & Op­er­a­tors As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad & To­ba­go (BOATT) is hop­ing that when the Prime Min­is­ter ad­dress­es the coun­try to­mor­row, dur­ing his Sat­ur­day press con­fer­ence, that he will an­nounce an ease of re­stric­tions on the Food and Bev­er­age Sec­tor.

In a state­ment re­leased to­day, BOATT says busi­ness­es in the sec­tor have been do­ing all they can to be ready when re­stric­tions are eased, if not lift­ed.

“Restau­rants and Bars through­out the coun­try have rein­vent­ed them­selves, formed al­liances, sim­u­lat­ed sit­u­a­tions, gone through rig­or­ous train­ings and for­mu­lat­ed safe­ty mea­sures and pro­to­cols,” BOATT points out in its re­lease.  “For us, it’s not about sell­ing some­thing but try­ing to solve some­thing dur­ing this so­cial and eco­nom­ic down­turn, so we can all come out bet­ter in the end. We are all try­ing to nav­i­gate the ‘New Nor­mal’.”

BOATT al­so is urg­ing that the COVID Unit—which com­pris­es Pub­lic Health In­spec­tors and Po­lice Of­fi­cers—be al­lowed to en­force the Pub­lic Health reg­u­la­tions and guide­lines, to en­sure full com­pli­ance and ad­her­ence to the reg­u­la­tions.

“They must be very vig­i­lant and firm in the ex­e­cu­tion of their du­ties on non-com­pli­ant busi­ness­es,” BOATT main­tain. “This is the on­ly way Trinidad and To­ba­go can move for­ward and win the bat­tle against COVID-19.”