By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Local promoters, night club proprietors and key stakeholders of Guyana’s entertainment fraternity are in uproar over a proposal by Vice President and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan to impose a 2:00hrs curfew on nightspots across the country.
The move is being proposed by Ramjattan as part of an overarching plan to alleviate the occurrences of crime in Guyana.
“This drinking that causes a lot of drivers to make accidents… driving cause a lot of vexation that sometimes lead to arguments that ultimately lead to gun violence and then shooting that has happened over the past couple of weeks…”the Vice President with responsibility for National Security told reporters in a recent interview.
However, some of the stakeholders are not so certain the imposition will do any good towards the ease the crime situation in Guyana.
One stakeholder, who prefers to remain anonymous, told iNews that the imposition may only serve to exacerbate the crime situation.
“People need entertainment, they’re saying it will fight crime but it just might increase it.”
He indicated too that clubbing for most persons usually begins just an hour before the proposed curfew is to be imposed, which would not bode well for any businessman in the sector.
“I don’t believe what they are doing is right; people usually come out to party as late as 1:00hrs – it is foolishness as far as I’m concerned,” the concerned man told iNews adding “it is hard when someone invests money in a party; hundreds of thousands of dollars and then they have to suffer a loss.”
He indicated too that similar views were expressed by his colleagues, since late night partying is how they earn revenue.
On social media, Frederick Granger had this to say; “the minister’s rationale is short-sighted and vexatious!!!…..Persons can get inebriated beyond acceptable levels, well before 2 am as they can get into arguments too. The accidents and violence he speaks of can still occur even with the closing hours being enforced!!!!…..Perhaps, what is most needed is a heavy Police patrol presence in the vicinity of the various clubs and night spots to sort of act as a deterrent.”
However, not all persons are in disagreement with the proposal. Nazim Hussain wrote, I “totally agree with the Minister. We should implement the last call at midnight as they do in Canada.”
Just enforce the dam curfew, and stop study the night owl, the drink too much rum.Let them stop home and read a book or them bible.
Stop the lawless ness.Put the clamps on the night clubs.
Find work or some profitable for these peeps to do.
i agree with this step this one of the first positive move by the minister too much lawlessness on the road at night after leaving the night clubs the innocent feel the pain and death. from the lawless people who pick trouble,fight, drive and kill and all sort of none sense and blame it on the alcohol . good work minister, good job.
Fully support the Minister’s decision. In Canada they uphold this law, and Guyanese who go there follow suit. Why not here? Its time we start pulling our selves up.
Here it comes! Like I’ve said The Granger Govtis going to instill some SERIOUSLY-NEEDED discipline in this COWBOY WILD WEST CULTURE we revel in and actually BELIEVE its NORMAL! We need to be a DISCIPLINED LAW- ABIDING people if we expect to progress. Guyanese go abroad and WILLINGLY comply with the laws of USA CANADA ENGLAND and these are DEVELOPED countries where Discipline is the order of the day. Guyanese are not accustomed to disciplined behaviour-and will fight it tooth and nail to prove that they are. Alot of you Guyanese gon BAWL!
Rule of law ——and the rest of you who are opposing the proposed law I pity you what do you want for the country crime or law and order, instead of jumping on the Minister jump on your friends who are committing the infractions what is more important partying or living in a country that is clean and maintain the code you for too long became accustomed to the lawnesness that was upheld by the ppp regime things have to change whether you like it or not deal withit.
I agree with you Gary damn right.
I agree completely if they can compile in Canada and other north american countries why not comply in your own country.
The Hon. Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, has to also clamp down on those Cassette carts which go by BLASTING LOUD MUSIC. Also the BOOM BOOM BOXES in the Mini Buses. Please put a STOP to them Mr Minister. It Is Time.
There are those in our society who just don’t give a damn about the rights of others and would play LOUD music all night, every night up to 4.30 a.m. Then there are the patrons who would get out of the Night Club and not go home right away, instead they engage in LOUD conversations and arguments. There is even gun play sometimes. There was a gun murder at one of these Night Clubs in Georgetown recently.
It’s very good that the minister is being pro active and trying to bring some morality and decency to this great country. Not all the citizens will agree but in the long term they will be glad and rejoice in the day the lord has made. Go for it Mr Minister you are on the right track
Barat you are right, and when the Guyanese come to Canada they have to abide by the rules. Once the rules are in place most if not all will fall in line. Change is hard however they will learn appreciate it eventually.
Some Guyanese people does not like law and order especially the business owners. Guyana has grown accustom to the lawlessness and when the situation is brought to light the business owners will bribe their way out of whatever the situation is. In Canada there are laws and no bribing takes place here, so everyone has to toe the line. It is going to be hard for the business owners of night life to accept changes. However, changes has to be made to bring order to the country. And in regards to neighbours making noise the police should be called and the neighbour should be given a warning, not to disturb the neighbourhood.
Why do people who want to party all night ,work no where ,disturb tax payers who goes to work .stop thr dsm party at 2am ,let them JUMBIE AND POLICE PATROL THE STREETS .YOU ENJOYED IT WHILE AT LASTED TIME UP NO MO LATE PATHEEEE.
Guyana Mann, your are so right…. no need to aspire, no need to learn from the mistakes of other experiences, you want to reinvent the wheel ? Your position in local parlance is backwards in going forwards…. If it is about freedom …what about my freedom ? You are like a man in the bush….. get a grasp abut the challenges of development. By the way, I am not a supporter of the current regime…. but they will do a fantastic job of rule of law and order…. irrespective of my position of recounting the ballots…. Guyana needs to move forward and for clarity the PPP/C played a significant role in the economic and financial progress… the current regime will fullfill where they erred, failed and were deficient…. that is progress !!
Well everyone has valid points, I would like to say humbly any problem or situation has to be tackled from the root or source. It is clear we need better enforcement of traffic rules, I also find it ironic that alcohol causes so many deaths yet its legal while weed in all its never I have never heard it killing anyone yet its illegal (irony)! Educating the public at large about effects of anything whether alcohol, illicit drugs is all good however that is not a full proof guarantee that persons wont partake in these things.
There should be not only curew but stop and search of the many youths who are criminals and frequent the night entertainment spots.
Dam right I agree!! If people are educated properly they Will know better not to drink and drive, ..alcohol And car don’t make accident, people do, like wise, guns and alcohol And clubs don’t kill people, people kill people.. Guyana is not Canada! Stop interfering with the freedom of the Guyanese ppl.. If there was enough police on the road, then ppl will be scared to drink and drive, or to carry a weapon, increace your security, and don’t decrease ones freedom..
I agree you can never please everyone, if God can’t do it how can man lol
I agree with you Savannah
I agree completely with the Minister we have to get serious, too much lawlessness, in other develop countries the law is similar and people are still entertained and business still make money. We have to decide what kind of society we really want for our children. Its not like its Marshall law or midnight so look on the bright side you have till 2am to party, as opposed to everyone being off the streets by 2am, come on people.
That’s right Mr. Minister. Bring back some amount of moral decency…….hard a task as it may be after so many years of lawlessness. Kindly also look quickly into the noise nuisance we have to endure in our own homes from the neighbours at any hour of the day or night, preventing us from resting, giving us hoarse throat because we have to shout above the noise coming from next door in order to be heard, and moreso, preventing our children from studying, especially in First Street, Montrose, East Coast Demerara Please Minister Ramjattan, please stop this callous disrespect for one’s peace and sanity. Music should only be played for one’s own entertainment in their own domain and should not be by others outside. Inews, I would be very grateful if this could be filtered to the Minister.
The entertainment business owners have no interest in the safety of the people, their only interest is to entertain and sell their products -entertainment and alcohol- which lead to drug, sex and violence.
I would recommend that the Minister of Public Security begin an aggressive media campaign to show the statistics of crime committed during and after these events at establishments and in the communities such as drunk driving accidents, and arrests, crime, fights, violence, etc. Then indicate that if these infractions are not reduced significantly and people do not adhere to the law and become more responsible then the curfew will be imposed with zero tolerance for these infractions.
The aggressive media campaign message should be: Stop the crime and no curfew will be imposed. It is a simple solution.
Business owners in these establishments should be more responsible as well as if there are violent crimes committed i.e shoot outs, etc, they can run the risk of loosing their license or closing down the business. People must and should follow the law. Entertainment is excellent for everyone but it should not be marred by crime and violence.
We must move back to becoming a more responsible citizenry. In the USA, Canada and Europe there are restrictions and curfew for the entertainment industry and people do adhere to it and have no problems. So what is wrong and so different with the people in Guyana who are angry. Just start the parties earlier so people can enjoy themselves and leave before 2:AM peacefully without committing any crimes.
VP Ramjattan is right. As our old Police Inspector Loncke would observe “There are only three people on the road at such a deathly hour after midnight. Jumbie, Police or thief”; Loncke would then ask “Who are you I`m a Police but I don`t know you”.
I think that along with a more robust police presence, this is a good idea. We have this in Canada and it works fine. Once it’s a law, the people and businesses will adjust and start partying a bit earlier. Most civilized countries have these kind of laws to help promote more peaceful and responsible fun. On special occasions like Mash, that curfew can be temporarily extended, simple.
It is self evident that this new regime will articulate, enforce, and be consistent with law and order. A sore point of the previous administration. This will bring an end to the daily noise nuisance and pollution, drunken driving, wild west shooting, lewdness etc . Sandy is point on, in the most advanced countries in the world and in good old US there are limits.. why impose upon me about when you come out to Party ? What we care about is social discipline not just keeping your surroundings clean…. the next attack is to bring a halt to is smoking in public space we all share…. apart from the self danger, it encroaches in the air other breathes… go kill yourself not me…..
Good work Mr. Minister and while you are at it please do something about the noise nuisance, including that of private vehicles.
This is the change we expect. You have my support
Both views have some merit. There can be a compromise whereby the curfew is implemented for a trial period. Maybe 6 months to a year, after which an assessment is made as to whether there were any improvements. That way a solution can be made based on empirical evidence. As a somewhat young democracy that is the kind of thing Guyana needs a bit of experimentation to gather empirical evidence. Another thing the Minister and Commissioner of Police can consider is posting undercover cops at the night clubs to look out for drunk patrons who would attempt to drive. This can serve as a preventative strategy.
good thing you live in UK, please mind your own affairs there. Having a 2am curfew will not stop Guyanese from continue drinking…these new ministers/VPs have to look at the reality of whats going on here. reinforce the traffic rules and more police patrols and most importantly look into those officers taking bribes….
yes i do agree leave home early and get in your house early so you can get up early to get to work what you want with drinking till 3 and 4 am in d morning when the go out the country the obey the rules there .
It will be a tough fight to bring back any sense of decency to this public after so many years of “do wa you want” – I personally mentioned this to my family – any move to change any form of wrong doing will be met with opposition- here we go!
I don’t agree with this. Also take the word curfew out from your dictatorship. This is Guyana, our country not US CANADA or ENGLAND. We have to make our own laws and no minister should entertain the thought that he can impose his idiotic ideas on the Guyanese people. Guyanese will start their nite of entertainment from 12 to 1 – that is when we start our evening entertainment. Yeah and we eat dinner at 9 pm when we are going to party. So lets get this thing right. I say 3am alcohol sale to stop. Customers can stay stay or leave by 5 am. Minimum close time can be 4 am at business discretion. Spend some money on educating our young and old about alcohol consumption and its negative effects on a person and their family. All you talk about laws to take away our peoples freedoms and spend the people money to buy more laws and the tools and weapons to impose your unjust laws on the people. When will we all realize that this is just a business. Maybe we will have to follow up on these politicians after they retire to see where they get retirement money from.
I agree with Mr Frederick Granger. People get inebriated at all hours of the day. 2am is not a special time when people exceed the limit. While I understand what Mr Ramjattan is trying to do, I can’t see how this move will make much of a difference except for to irritate usual night time “partiers”. This isn’t Kent UK @Sandy, nor Canada Mr Hussain. This is the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, and we lack entertainment greatly. All this will means is that the violence and accidents that you claim are caused by the heavy consumption of alcohol will occur earlier in the evening and/or day. A heightened police presence during those hours would more likely curb the accidents and violence. Ensuring club goers cannot enter a premises with firearms and other weapons would more likely curb the violence, not sending people home at 2am.
Last call in Most of Canada is not midnight. In Ontario where the most Guyanese live, alcohol is sold in bars until 2 am. Perhaps more education and policing can assist in your problems with drinking and driving, as well as gun waving.
The Minister is correct. The police force was used to enforce this policy in years gone by. Do we need to reflect on what happened in New York when their mayor enforced that curfew?
If this proposal will help in someway to alleviate the frequency of crime – why not. No government can please all of the people all of the time they must do what brings relief to the majority. The same one now complaining are the ones that were advocating loudly that the authorities do sonething, well- they have.
A different view… raise the DUI fines to $100,000 and one month imprisonment.
We simply cannot curtail the rights of our citizen by imposing curfews. The right to determine ones course is critical to a growing democracy. Govt is a facilitator and should not behave as a dictator.
I agree with the minister. I live in Kent in the UK and that’s the policy here. And you know what people abide by those rules and we have no problems.