Bar owners are still waiting for funds from the $10 million bailout for bars and restaurants promised by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
President of the Barkeepers & Operators Association Trinidad and Tobago (BOATT), Sateesh Moonasar, said “We have met with the Minister of Finance… but up to this day we have not received any grant or financial support. We are hopeful and we are pleading for it to be expedited as soon as possible because we need the assistance.”
The BOATT president acknowledged that Government had managed the pandemic well overall, “but at the same time, they need to support the industries and the sectors that have been basically bearing the burden
Moonasar, in an interview with the Express, said a meeting was held with Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon in February where “We presented a plan for a phased reopening and we are hopeful that, being that the Covid numbers are low and vaccines are being introduced, we are hoping that we can come to a sort of compromise where we can have a form of reopening.”
Moonasar said it may not be a full reopening, but in-house service can be done with proper guidelines and monitoring from police.
“It will take some time, but we are hopeful and we will work towards getting the industry back to some level of normalcy.
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