Survey: Hanover bars and taverns doing well

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WESTERN BUREAU:

MASHARIO BISSASOR, the Social Development Commission’s (SDC) parish manager for Hanover, says that based on the ongoing survey being undertaken in the parish, the bars and taverns have been meeting the standard outlined to combat the spread of COVID-19.

“Hanover will not be the parish to make the full reopening of bars and taverns across the island not a success, it will have to be some other parish, but not Hanover,” said Bissassor in an interview with The Gleaner, in which he summarised the information being gathered on a survey instrument being done across the parish as it relates to the readiness of bars and taverns to reopen.

Community bars and taverns were ordered closed by the Government over a month ago as part of a national effort to stem the spread of the deadly COVID-19.

Proprietors of the bars and taverns were given a seven-day notification period recently for them to take the requisite steps to be compliant with some newly outlined protocols. The raft of new measures outlined includes: stipulations on social and physical distancing, which must be maintained; no more than five persons, including the bartender, shall be in the establishment at any given time; no seating arrangement on the inside; the compulsory wearing of masks; a sanitising stations at the entrance of facilities, among others.

“The main feedback we are getting is that the persons (bar and tavern owners) want to be compliant, albeit many of them are not ‘fire-ready’ (not Fire Department-certified),” Bissassor outlined.

“I am very proud of them, because most persons are aware of what they should have, and have got what they should have. The only thing giving them a beating is their trade licence, which they all state that as soon as they are able to, they are going to get their trade licence,” added Bissassor

Pointing out that the survey is showing that most of the bar and tavern owners contacted to date are relatively young adults, Bissassor argued that he was impressed with their expressed intentions to be compliant with all the requirements.

“It is a very positive story and I am very proud of the parish, seeing that sometimes this parish is left behind,” said Bissassor.

The Gleaner was informed that as of Saturday, May 23, some 15 per cent of the estimated 400 community bars and taverns in Hanover have been surveyed by the SDC team.