Buc­coo Reef Boat Tour Op­er­a­tors say al­though COVID-19 re­stric­tions have been re­laxed al­low­ing them to re­sume op­er­a­tions, this may be im­pos­si­ble as more thought should have been put in­to the lo­gis­tics for the To­ba­go tour op­er­a­tors.

On Sat­ur­day Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley an­nounced that re­stric­tions would be al­tered to al­low peo­ple to tour the Buc­coo Reef in To­ba­go and the Ca­roni Bird Sanc­tu­ary in Trinidad. These tours must how­ev­er on­ly be at half oc­cu­pan­cy and per­sons must wear pro­tec­tive gear.

The Buc­coo Reef Boat Tour Op­er­a­tors say they are hap­py to re­turn to work but may not be able to ben­e­fit from these new guide­lines.

Pres­i­dent of the Buc­coo Reef Boat Tour Op­er­a­tors As­so­ci­a­tion Dex­ter Black said the amend­ments to the Pub­lic Health Reg­u­la­tions places them at a dis­ad­van­tage as ac­cord­ing to the new guide­lines per­sons are not al­lowed to get in­to the wa­ter. This would be par­tic­u­lar­ly dif­fi­cult as peo­ple can on­ly ac­cess boat tours from Store Bay where there is no jet­ty and the Pi­geon Point jet­ty is still closed off to the pub­lic.

“At Store Bay per­sons will still have to get in­to the wa­ter. At Pi­geon Point the Jet­ty is in need of re­pairs, it cor­doned off if you go there now you will see cau­tion tape some of the thatch blown off the jet­ty so the jet­ty at Pi­geon Point is not an op­tion for now.”

Un­der the amend­ed pub­lic health reg­u­la­tions, tours to the Buc­coo Reef and the Ca­roni Bird Sanc­tu­ary are on­ly per­mit­ted where the tour does not ex­ceed fifty per cent of the or­di­nary ca­pac­i­ty of a tour. Peo­ple on both tours must al­so wear an ap­pro­pri­ate face­mask, face shield or face cov­er­ing. And those on the tours are not al­lowed to dis­em­bark from the ves­sel to bathe or swim.

Ac­cord­ing to the Pub­lic Health Act, it’s al­so an of­fence for peo­ple be found at any beach or any body of wa­ter off the coast of Trinidad and To­ba­go for any recre­ation­al pur­pos­es.

Ac­cord­ing to the pres­i­dent of the as­so­ci­a­tion, these guide­lines may prove coun­ter­pro­duc­tive, as tra­di­tion­al­ly bathing in the wa­ters is a part of the ex­pe­ri­ence.

Cur­rent­ly, there are 22 reg­is­tered boat own­ers op­er­at­ing tours at the lo­ca­tion. In March of this year when the site was closed as part of COVID-19 safe­ty reg­u­la­tions, the To­ba­go House of As­sem­bly used the op­por­tu­ni­ty to im­ple­ment a tick­et­ing sys­tem to put an end to tout­ing by boat own­ers. Boat own­ers signed an MOU with the To­ba­go House of As­sem­bly, which now gov­erns how the Ma­rine Park is used and man­aged

Sev­er­al calls to the Sec­re­tary re­spon­si­ble for that Di­vi­sion, Hay­den Spencer went unan­swered.