Stakeholders welcome the return of children under 12 to their establishments, now that the Government has allowed them to patronise safe zones despite not qualifying for vaccination.
However, restaurateur Peter George hopes it’s the start of the abolition of the safe zone initiative.
In an interview with Guardian Media on Monday, George noted that emphasis now needs to be placed on individual responsibility.
“This move is welcomed and the fact remains that, from my perspective, the entire safe zone—as we’re seeing happening throughout the world—the entire safe zone initiative is one that needs to be ceased,” he said.
“The time has far gone (for it). Individual responsibility now is the most important thing for our country to move forward.”
He said there now needs to be a “pointed approach” by the Government to return the country as close to normalcy as possible.
“There needs to be an approach that is courageous, that leads us out of this situation that we are in and encourages people to behave safely, smartly and wisely,” George said.
“I think our leadership needs to engage in courageous decisions that are balanced with caution and start the road to getting back our society now. I think that’s the bigger issue we’ve seen the last couple of years and the damage that has been done under the surface is yet to be revealed.”
Safe zones were launched in October 2021 for fully vaccinated people to access in-house service at select businesses such as restaurants, movie theatres, water parks, bars and casinos. In essence, it was a middle-ground between harsh restrictions and business as usual.
However, three of these five spaces are often frequented by families who choose to abstain because they may have a child who is not of age to be vaccinated.
It was a common occurrence according to stakeholders.
According to MovieTowne owner Derek Chin, the initiative did not work the way the Government envisioned it and should have been reviewed sooner.
“(The) restrictions should have been reviewed every month and adjusted accordingly. They simply did not provide the results that the authorities hoped for,” he told Guardian Media over the weekend.
Coalition of Bars and Restaurants president Teron Mohan also welcomed the move and hopes business will now pick up.
While he did not call for an end to the safe zones, he is hoping they will soon be allowed to operate at 75 per cent capacity at least – up from the current 50 per cent allowed.
With the announcement to allow children into safe zones, Five Islands Waterpark Director Richard Smith said he is optimistic there will be an uptick in business.
“Children play a big part in our facility and while they may only represent 20 per cent of the actual visiting numbers, they drive the parents, like myself, to go to the park. So not having the five to 12-year-olds was a big disadvantage to us. We understand why the Government was very conservative but we are very happy now that it has happened,” he told Guardian Media.
“We expect on Saturday and Sunday, the children to come out in their droves. Our phones have been ringing off the hook, people booking cabanas, wanting to exhale.”
He said the park sits on 17 acres and will be operating at less than 50 per cent to ensure safety.
