A Crack Down on Public Drinking During Referendum Day

Chester Williams

To ensure the personal safety of the citizenry, there were also strict orders in reference to public drinking and the sale of alcoholic beverages. ComPol Williams says they were forceful in ensuring that businesses adhered to the Representation of the People’s Act.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“That was a heavy part of our operation yesterday to ensure that there was no sale of alcohol. You would appreciate that the Representation of People’s Act speaks to the fact that any place that is opened solely for the sale of alcohol should be closed. So when it comes to bars and nightclubs, they could not be open until after six p.m. But as it relates to stores that have a shop or a convenience store license, they would have been open, but not for the sale of alcohol. So they had to find a way to conceal the alcohol and just opened for the sale of other goods. So we were very forceful in ensuring that the law was adhered to. And so we have no reports or incidents of any situation where any of these places were opened and was engaged in the selling of alcohol to any persons in the respective communities.”