Region Nine council members yesterday decided that travel to and from Lethem for work or health related purposes amid COVID-19 restrictions must be approved by the Mayor or town council before travel.
After a meeting between the Region Nine council and Cindy’s Bus Service yesterday afternoon, it was decided that persons wanting to exit or enter the town will have to contact the town council or mayor and provide a “valid” reason for requesting a pass to travel. An employee of the Cindy’s Bus Service located in Lethem, told this newspaper that “we have finalised that we don’t want persons just entering and leaving Lethem without valid reason,” thus the council has decided that persons who want to leave Lethem or enter from Georgetown, Annai, and other locations, must contact the town council or town mayor, John Macedo to obtain a pass to be allowed to travel.
The “valid” reasons why persons would be allowed to leave and enter the town, she explained, would be for work or due to health complications. The process to obtain this pass is quite simple she said. After making contact and providing the reason, persons would be sent the pass with their name on it via WhatsApp. The relevant authorities will also be provided with the list of persons who are recipients of the permit.
The bus station employee said that the bus service would be acquiring the pass for their drivers each day that persons are allowed to travel.
That is Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The bus will be departing from Lethem at 6am on the days mentioned and it will leave Georgetown at 3pm to return. Before boarding the bus the permit must be presented and passengers must wear their masks while travelling. In keeping with the COVID-19 guidelines the buses will be sanitised and cleaned after every trip and seating arrangements will be 75% capacity of the vehicle.
The use of travel permits comes after the government updated the COVID-19 measures and restricted travel into or out of regions Seven, Eight and Nine. The restrictions were put in place due to the continued rise in COVID-19 infections in the hinterland areas.
