The following is the official statement released by the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA), in response to the Prime Minister’s announcement that Government was moving up the re-start date for several businesses from Saturday 24th May, to Thursday 21st May 2020…
TTMA STATEMENT ON EARLY RE-STARTING OF MANUFACTURING BUSINESSES BY GOVERNMENT
The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturing Association has been notified that Phase Two of the scheduled reopening of business has been brought forward by three days to Thursday, May 21st.
The Association had written to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Health asking for a reconsideration of the proposed restart date of Sunday, May 24th.
The rationale provided by the TTMA is that the sector has already proven itself to be responsible and equipped to control the spread of Covid-19 through robust safety practices and a new set of protocols that have been adopted sector wide. Fifty percent of manufacturers have been operating as essential businesses over the past eight weeks, while the nation’s Covid-19 contagion has been reduced from 116 to 1 case.
We asked the Prime Minister to have confidence in the remaining fifty percent. He has today expressed this by accelerating the date for the reopening of manufacturing, and we wish to thank him for the decision taken.
The TTMA is now calling on all of its members and all manufacturers to act responsibly by continuously monitoring and evaluating their HSE processes, to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our people, suppliers and all who do business with us.
We are cautioning all manufacturers to do whatever is necessary to ensure that stringent safety measures are in place before reopening. We are charged with human lives and the cost of a resurgence is too high a price to pay for a lack of vigilance.
The new Covid-19 HSE protocols are readily available on the Association's (TTMA.com) website, as are resources for PPE, signage, and sanitization products and equipment.
We are all keen to get back to work and to get people back into employment. It has been a challenging two weeks, but we are ready to reopen and to get back on track with our 2025 growth strategy.