Recognising that stakeholder’s within the country’s entertainment sector have been among those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Denise Daley, opposition spokesperson on local government, says the time has come for a reopening of the sector.

Speaking in a recent radio interview, Daley added her voice to calls being made by various stakeholders for the Government to provide the green light for the sector’s reopening.

Despite a total vaccination rate that leaves much to be desired, the St Catherine Eastern member of parliament argued that it is now time for restrictions on entertainment events to end and for the Government to find creative ways to prevent COVID case spikes following the sector’s reopening.

Supervision and monitoring key to entertainment sector reopening

Learning from the mistakes of what transpired after last summer’s reopening of the sector, Daley advised event promoters to ensure they adhere to COVID-19 prevention guidelines so that whenever the entertainment sector is given the green light, it can remain open.

To ensure that the entire entertainment sector will not again have to suffer for the bad as was the case last year, the Opposition Spokesperson urged the importance of proper event oversight.

“You know what is the problem too?  Supervision and monitoring,” stated Daley. “We give these people permission and we have nobody, no manpower to make sure that the regulations are followed.

“What we need to do is, once they are not followed, those persons are either banned for a short period or, depending on the nature of the circumstances, they’re banned for a longer period. But at the same time, do not put everybody in the same basket and then end up making everybody suffer.”