By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CHIEF Superintendent of Police Zhivago Dames said commercial airlines have been fined thousands of dollars for letting passengers enter this country without the required documents, such as the travel health visa.

He said police officers and COVID-19 ambassadors have seen an increase recently in this type of situation.

“Over the holiday weekend we issued some 29 citations,” he said yesterday. “Included in that were citations to a number of commercial airlines for allowing persons to enter into the country without required documents and each passenger was cited for entering the country without the required documents. The airlines were cited $2,000 for allowing passengers to come on to their flights and passengers were also fined. Overall, the fines amounted to $14,500.

“Over the last four weeks we have seen an increase in airlines allowing passengers to come to New Providence without the required documents, moreso without having the required health visa. In the case over the holiday, these were persons travelling from outside The Bahamas.”

CSP Dames also said two businesses were cited over the weekend for operating despite being prohibited from doing so in the competent authority’s Emergency Powers Orders. A business was also cited for having a social gathering beyond the number of people allowed. Overall, the citations issued over the holiday weekend amounted to $29,000.

“Based on the data that we have, this was a decrease over what we have seen over the other holidays and previous months,” he said.

CSP Dames said so far this year, officers have issued about $900k in citations. He said officers are also ensuring only vaccinated people are enjoying benefits outlined in the rules, such as the ability to dine indoors.

“We know that restaurants are allowed to have inside dining with people who are fully vaccinated. The COVID Enforcement Unit has been going around to restaurants to check this out. I’m pleased to say the ones we have entered into, persons were fully vaccinated. We did visit a prohibited social gathering where people mentioned that they were fully vaccinated and we found that to be otherwise and they were warned or cited.

“I think I just want to say to the populace, continue to do their best to follow the protocols and the rules set down by the competent authority,” he said. “The rules are there for all of our safety and protection.”