UNC: Govt approach to curb covid19 'disjointed'

THE sudden cancellation of a plan for private security firms to patrol certain neighbourhoods during the covid19 lockdown shows the Government has a disjointed approach to handling the pandemic, Opposition Senator Anita Haynes told Newsday.

She spoke minutes after National Security Minister Stuart Young had publicly cancelled the patrol initiative at a virtual briefing on Wednesday.

Haynes said while the population will allow the some flexibility in a response to the pandemic, based on the experiences of other countries hit by the virus before TT, the Government should have had a clear action plan.

She lamented that their daily briefings simply announced certain measures,without providing information in support.

“What the Government is dealing with is not a national security threat or a spy threat which requires secrecy.”

Saying the pandemic will reveal global best practice, Haynes said ideas such as closing restaurants should not be a secret.

“They seem very reactive. The cancellation of the patrols shows the original decision had not come from well-thought-out policies on how to deal with the pandemic.

“It is a very disjointed approach from the Government. ‘We’ll give you masks.’ ‘We’ll have joint patrols.’ ‘No, we won’t have patrols.’”

Haynes recalled the Prime Minister on Monday laying down closing hours for restaurants, only to say minutes later that all restaurants will be completely closed.

“The Government should have an overall policy for the pandemic and tell the nation their data points for certain actions to be taken.”

Further, she said they should have said how many cases of community spread of the virus had occurred, informing the move to shut all restaurants.

Haynes said the covid19 virus is not a sentient being that can eavesdrop on the Government’s plans.

“In a war you need secrecy, but in a pandemic we need all the information. War is quite different to disease.”

Asked about critics on social media who claimed the Government's climbdown on security patrols means public policy is now set and unset in response to social media posts, she replied, “That is why we need data and evidence to support the decision-making.”

Haynes said the Government should be asked what had led to the initial decision to start the patrols and then what had materially happened to lead to the cancellation.