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Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite and Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Kerry Hinds being interviewed by the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation’s Lisa Lorde, during a press briefing on Tropical Storm Matthew yesterday.

AG: National Shutdown was the best decision made

 

Whilst Barbadians awoke yesterday to find calm rather than a storm, the need for a national shutdown gradually became evident later in the day, as the impending weather system was upgraded and a Tropical Storm Warning came into effect, as Tropical Storm Matthew dumped heavy showers on Barbados with accompanying gusty winds.

 

Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite, whilst speaking during the Department of Emergency Management’s (DEM) Press Conference held around midday yesterday, suggested that whilst some persons may have been critical of the decision to have a national shutdown earlier in the day, by afternoon, it could be seen that the best decision was indeed made.

 

“When we issue a national shutdown, first let me say that there’s a process. This is not something that Ms. (Kerry) Hinds at the DEM initiates. There is a national committee (which) looks at the information available to us and who makes the best judgement available at the time” Brathwaite pointed out.

 

“Now (yesterday) morning for example, when many of us woke up, we were probably saying well, you know, what is this all about, because there was a bit of sunshine, no rain, a little bit of wind etc. We made a decision (Tuesday) afternoon, based on the best information available to us. The system at that point of time didn’t have a name, wasn’t as strong as it is presently, but you can see based on what is happening across not only Barbados, but across the Eastern Caribbean in particular, that we made the best decision at that point in time” the Attorney General remarked.

 

The AG further suggested that it is mandatory that persons follow the advisories given and businesses also comply.

 

Acknowledging that businesses were supposed to close by 6 p.m. on Tuesday and that the Transport Board had given an 8 p.m. deadline for the running of their buses, the AG noted that the onus would have been on businesses who ran counter to the schedule, to ensure that their employees who worked beyond these times, would have been able to reach home safely.

 

Acting Director of the Department of Emergency Management, Kerry Hinds, meanwhile emphasised the fact that it’s a consultative process that takes place ahead of a national shutdown, as the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) goes into effect.

 

The NEOC is made up of a collection of key stakeholders drawn from the various emergency services, the Welfare Department, the health sector, the tourism sector, the private sector and volunteers, amongst others and personnel from these key areas take part in the consultative process preceding any national shutdown. Barbadians should therefore pay heed to the advisories given and also await an all clear, before going back to their normal routines. (RSM)

 

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Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite and Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Kerry Hinds being interviewed by the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation’s Lisa Lorde, during a press briefing on Tropical Storm Matthew yesterday.

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