Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice (CoP), Gary Grif­fith, says it is an of­fence un­der the Pub­lic Health Or­di­nance Reg­u­la­tions for per­sons to swim in the sea dur­ing this COVID-19 Pan­dem­ic.

The Com­mis­sion­er was clar­i­fy­ing the re­cent reg­u­la­tion which came in­to ef­fect on Au­gust 17, fol­low­ing an an­nounce­ment by the Ho­n­ourable Prime Min­is­ter two days ear­li­er.

He raised the is­sue in light of the case of a fish­er­man in To­ba­go, who was ar­rest­ed ear­li­er this week. He was charged for breach­ing the reg­u­la­tions af­ter he was found swim­ming in the sea.

Com­mis­sion­er Grif­fith points out that Sec­tion 3(1) of the Pub­lic Health Coro­n­avirus Reg­u­la­tions states:

“For the pur­pos­es of con­trol­ling and pre­vent­ing the spread of the 2019 Nov­el Coro­n­avirus (2019-nCoV), it shall be an of­fence, dur­ing the pe­ri­od spec­i­fied in reg­u­la­tion 12, for any per­son to be found at or in any beach, riv­er, stream, pond, spring or sim­i­lar body of wa­ter or any pub­lic pool…”

The CoP says:

“…any per­son who con­tra­venes this reg­u­la­tion com­mits an of­fence and is li­able on sum­ma­ry con­vic­tion to a fine of $50,000 and to im­pris­on­ment for six months.”

He notes there was some un­cer­tain­ty as to the true mean­ing of the lat­est reg­u­la­tions with re­spect to per­sons own­ing boats and trav­el­ling down the is­lands.

Com­mis­sion­er Grif­fith is­sued the fol­low­ing guide­lines:

1) Per­sons are per­mit­ted to use their boats to vis­it is­land homes, and make trips to ar­eas down the is­lands;

2) There is to be no swim­ming from ei­ther the boats or from the hous­es or jet­ties as per the re­stric­tions for beach­es;

3) There is to be no raft­ing up (no boats are to be tied or joined to­geth­er. Boats are to be dis­tanced at least eight feet apart; and

4) Per­sons on boats are lim­it­ed to ON­LY im­me­di­ate fam­i­ly.

The CoP says that both the Coast Guard and the Po­lice Ma­rine Coastal Pa­trol Unit will pa­trol the wa­ters to en­sure that the reg­u­la­tions are com­plied with.

He re­minds all cit­i­zens that Down the Is­lands form part of Trinidad and To­ba­go.