NASSAU, Bahamas, August 18, 2020 –A small group of protestors defied COVID-19 emergency orders and gathered near Windsor Park on East Street Tuesday morning to protest the seven-day lockdown imposed on New Providence by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, The Tribune reported on August 18.
Videos of the group were posted on social media, showing a crowd of people walking in the street, some without masks, angered by the government’s sudden lockdown that left many people without time to get adequate food and water to prepare.
Police arrived at the scene and some protestors were arrested.
“The Bahamas is becoming a sad place,” protester Demetrius Smith said in a live video shared on Facebook. “It’s a beautiful place full of ugly people, wicked people, selfish people. Today our intentions was to have a peaceful protest, as we walk and came through the communities, some of the officers called me on the side and that’s what caused the uproar, people came out of their homes and started to say things to the officers. . .so (a protestor) has been arrested.”
One woman on the march said protestors had no issue with the lockdown but were angered by the lack of warning from the prime minister, who imposed the restrictive measures Monday night during a national address.
“We are here by Super Value Windsor Park and we are part of Operation Sovereign Bahamas and we have no problem with the lockdown, we know the (necessity) of the lockdown, but we want preparation,” the woman said. “There is no food in the house, no job, we want to be able to be free to move around. We could obey the lockdown but we need preparation, you don’t instantly put people in the cage with nothing to do, that’s why we (are) here.”
Protestor Adrian Francis shared a video on Facebook from a police vehicle, saying he and several protestors had been arrested.
“At some point somebody has to say something about what’s happening in the country,” he said in the video, as the group was driven to a police station. See Tribune story at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/aug/18/protesters-defy-lockdown-measures/
