This week we asked the man and woman in the street whether they were in agreement with the 2 am closure of night clubs or whether they were in support of an extension of the time. Their responses follow:
Shellon McRae, vendor – ‘I am in full agreement of the 2 am curfew, because if that is the way forward to bring back our country in order I am supporting it. If it is the rule well then everybody should obey it because the government put that system in place for a purpose. It’s just like how the schools have rules. I believe that the country must have rules and the citizens have to abide by them. Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan should not compromise with those that want an extension, if that is the rule well then stick to it, because if he will decide to compromise, that is how the eye pass will come. We had enough lawlessness in this country and the people got to catch themselves. I am glad for the 2 am closure because it will help to get the youths off the streets.’
Kim Holder, vendor – ‘I support it because is plenty things happening in Guyana during those hours. I used to party in my younger days and by 2 to 2.30 am I will be in my house. I think up to 2 am is more than enough time to party. That is enough. A one to two hours party is good enough for the soul.’
Pablo – ‘It is twofold and I think that it should be categorized because some places indeed could be a noise nuisance. However Guyana deserves a night life, because tourists are coming into Guyana and the night life should be available for persons. There will be a lot of loss in business as well. I believe that Guyana should be a place that is different from others. What is needed is good policing and other mechanisms to fight crime. The opening hours of the nightspots have nothing to do with crimes, besides I wouldn’t want to dress up for just two hours and have to return home because the place have to close.’
Helen Gomes, housewife – ‘I am very much in support of the 2 am curfew because I feel that it has an impact on the rate of crime in this country. As a matter of fact I would be in support of it if they want to bring the time of closure at 12 am.’
Lela La Cruz, housewife – ‘I think that it should close before 2 am. The extended hours of partying has a negative effect on youths and the family as a whole. Because often times the youths
would go out to party and sometimes the husbands and even wives, which I think does not have a positive impact on the family.’
Sheldon Hazelwood, private sector employee – ‘The implementation of the curfew is not appropriate at this time. The economy is still in a fragile state and imposing something like that is actually putting a restriction which will also affect the production of companies. I think that they should look at other measures to control alcohol consumption while ensuring that the police are present on the streets during those hours or even long before (like is done in other countries) which will affect the reduction of crimes. The night life is part of a Caribbean culture and it is also part of our
culture and putting a restriction puts a damper on everything else.’
Wendell De Camp, businessman – ‘I think that is something good which the government decide to clamp down on because a lot of negative things happen when people get intoxicated, especially during those hours. Besides the crimes, there is a lot of looseness that people go on with and a lot of persons end up getting abused and those things.
While I believe that it will reduce the rate of crimes, I think that more police patrol is needed at those sporting spots and on the streets. The implementing of the law is good
and I think that they should put measures in place to ensure that law is being upheld.’
Tracy Cumberbatch, housewife – ‘I think that it will be better if they close early. In light of the crime rate and the amount of
accidents that Guyana has at the moment, I believe that if the 2 am curfew is upheld it will reduce those rates and the citizens in general will benefit.’
Deon Latchman, university student – ‘In my view, I see that this will have a negative effect on businesses. And when I think about it, the question I ask is why should grown people be given a curfew? Taking away people little freedom may have a negative reaction more than expected.’
Subraj Singh, writer – ‘I will be in full support of the 2 am curfew when I know it’s a success at doing what it was set out to do after some sort of independent study is
done in order to establish whether the curfew is actually effective. In the meantime I will support the 2 am curfew as a trial that should not be set in stone until the findings show that it is a truly useful and important feature that is actually solving problems.’
