The Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) has secured approval for the hosting of an endurance event later this month.
Via a release on Saturday, the club confirmed that the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) granted conditional approval for the event once pre-set conditions are met and kept.
One said condition is a zero spectator policy for this event, something the GMR&SC President Rameez Mohamed confirmed will be the hallmark of the event.
According to Mohamed, “We had earlier this year sought an audience for the hosting of an event because we understand that our members are eager to get back on track. However, we need those same members to understand that this isn’t an excuse to bring out spectators.”
“We are now giving these members a chance to use the machines that they have been prepping all through the latter part of last year for an official club event.”
“What we want to complete as soon as possible is a list of key personnel that will be present on race day. Those include the medical and emergency teams, the marshals and race officials and of course those members.”
The GMR&SC boss added that the club has already secured donations from some of its members to help offset the cost of the event, as another condition on the approval features a ‘no marketing policy’ of the club’s events.
“We want to say a special thank you to the team over at Secure Innovations and Concepts Inc. for throwing their hat in the ring at the first ask to help offset the expenses of this event. It’s something not a lot of people see. There is an expense incurred with hosting these events.”
FULLY VACCINATED ONLY
Another conditional measure is that all persons who are attending the event must be fully vaccinated as stated by committee member Nyron Maraj.
“All persons present on the day must be fully vaccinated. That is to say that they have had two doses of a Ministry of Health approved COVID-19 vaccine. We cannot overstate the importance of this for our members, their crew and other officials.”
“We are not above expelling those members who have not been fully vaccinated, be it our own marshals. We understand the importance of meeting the requirements of these conditions and persons must know that if they attempt to breach these rules, it can cost us future events.”
150-PERSON LIMIT WITHIN A SET TIME FRAME
According to the approval letter, the club will have permission to host no more than 150 persons for the event commencing no earlier than 10:00h and not exceeding 17:00h.
“We got approval for 150 people and all we ask is that persons continue to abide by these guidelines. The Task Force has already said to us that they will be there in person to ensure that these rules are upheld. Mask wearing and social distancing as well as sanitisation stations are all things we have to abide by,” Maraj said.
“Also, the Task Force can and will be randomly asking persons to produce their vaccination cards or copies of it to ensure that they are fully vaccinated. If by some means someone manages to slip by us and they are found by the Task Force, they will obviously be expelled from this and possibly future events.”
